


fake it 'til you make it

by littleladysugar



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Comedy, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, Slow Burn, junhoon & verkwan start at chap 5 and will continue from there, svt is a fraternity at an art school it'll be a great time, this is gonna be a fun ride my friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-08
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-09-30 19:40:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10170344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleladysugar/pseuds/littleladysugar
Summary: “You’re going to say no,” the other boy sucked in a breath.“Probably,” Minghao responded, voice coming out much softer than he intended.How he had gotten himself in this situation, he had no idea. But it was going to be a long two weeks.





	1. say yes

**Author's Note:**

> hello fellow carats ◕ ◡ ◕ welcome to my first seventeen fanfic. why did i start writing stories about real people? who knows!  
> hope you enjoy! ♡

Xu Minghao knew- deep, deep down in his heart of hearts- that Speech Communications was an entirely _useless_ course. Yet every Tuesday and Thursday at 9:00 am, he continued to drag his limp body out of bed, roll into his seat, and be talked at- so he could learn _how to talk_.

Being a Dance Arts major, Minghao’s preferred language was something more physical: the telling of a story through rhythms and cadences and vocabulary that only the body could speak. Not to mention the fact that he wasn’t _exactly_ fluent in English yet- which was the only language they used in-class. While Minghao knew messing up in front of other (equally) apathetic college students wasn’t _that_ bad, he still got embarrassed.

Luckily for him (or not so luckily), he caught up via weekly study sessions with an overenthusiastic Kim Mingyu. The aspiring actor was more than willing to coach Minghao outside of class, and so the pair regularly found themselves huddled in study rooms on Monday nights.

But their meetings weren’t always the most… productive.

“Hao, do you think I can make it?” Mingyu beamed in an attempt to get his attention. The boy was holding an empty coffee cup, setting up like he was ready to dunk it into the trash. While the bin was pretty close, Minghao seriously doubted his friend’s ability to make the shot. He wasn’t the most graceful of people.

“Probably not.” The dancer scoffed, “I could, though.” Following suit, Minghao grabbed his own cup and lifted his arms- ready to throw on count.

“1...2...3… _now!_ ”

On Minghao’s call, both boys launched their drinks in the (general) direction of the can. There was the sound of colliding paper cups as they met mid-air, bounced off each other, and hit the floor. A beat of silence played as both students glared downwards, the empty drinks rocking side to side.

They were being mocked.

In unison, the two exploded in peals of laughter, losing breath quickly. Minghao folded in on himself, clutching his sides, while Mingyu clapped giddily across the table. Not only had they missed, but they had managed to hit _each other_. It had to be a new record or something.

“What was that about ‘I could, though’?” Mingyu managed between fading giggles.

“Oh shut up, you didn’t get it in either,” Minghao retorted, lightheartedly rolling his eyes. Figuring it would be rude to leave the cups on the floor, their sniggering died out as they cleaned up. Mingyu sank bank into his chair with a _thump!_ , proceeding to tap his pen against the table.

“You know, we have class tomorrow. And you’re giving your speech then, so…” the taller sucked in a sharp breath, “You should probably practice a bit.”

“I know.” Minghao groaned in response, “But I don’t think there’s much I can do at this point.” His protest was met by a “tsk” from Mingyu, who dismissed the negativity with a wave of his hand. All of their study sessions seemed to follow this pattern: both got distracted, Minghao refused to focus, and then Mingyu got him motivated. Secretly, the younger was grateful for it. While it was a blow to his pride to ask Mingyu for help, they had known each other for so long that it was too late to start judging each other now.

“Come on, Hao! We can at least work on your posture, that’ll count for something. Did you know you slouch?” Mingyu teased, canines peeking through as he flashed a grin.

Deadpan, the unamused redhead shot back, “Yes, I know I don't stand right, Mingyu.”

“Good! At least you’re aware. ‘Cuz I took notes when the professor was talking about posture, and I think it could really help.” Mingyu reached into his backpack and slapped a notebook down onto the table, obviously _very_ proud of himself.

“Aren’t notes on how to give a speech kind of useless? I’ll just straighten up, I don’t need notes to do that.”

Immediately after he spoke, Minghao knew he said the wrong thing. Mingyu flinched away from his words, dejection obvious on his face. The actor was as easy to read as a book- and there was no mistaking the furrow in his brow.

“Mingyu…” the dancer trailed off, attempting to mediate his mistake before his friend tuned him out. He hadn’t meant to make a personal attack, of course, but sometimes he and Mingyu tended to clash. This was one of those times.

The big puppy basically shut down, folding his arms on the table and tucking his head down. He carried on in silence like that for a while, and if Minghao didn’t know better, he would think Mingyu fell asleep. But like any of their other “fights”, Mingyu was just being stubborn.

He paused a minute before teasing, “Are you tired? We can go, you know.” though his voice was innocently questioning, a smirk played at his lips.

Something that sounded like, “No,” came from the other, muffled by his sweatshirt sleeves. Minghao drummed his fingers on the table, nodding like he believed it.

This wasn’t the first time the Mingyu had reverted to a “Hao teased me and I’m going to assume he hates me”-type silence. Even when it was just a little, offhanded comment about not needing Mingyu’s notes. Because this was a _Speech_ class, and Minghao would die before he wrote down “the proper posture while public speaking is”. He decided to wait a little longer until the actor gave up.

But then again, Minghao was never known for his patience.

An echo of silence ticked by before he piped up, “Are you going to stop pouting, or...?”

“I am _not_ pouting!” Mingyu’s head shot up immediately, defiance clear on his face.

“You so are, just look at you. You’re like a toddler!” Minghao gestured to him glaringly. Mingyu was slumped over like a dead plant just a minute ago. _“Not pouting_ ” was a bold-faced lie.  
  
“I am _not!”_  the taller retorted, “I’m just sorry you said my notes- which I spent a lot of time on, by the way- are useless. And I’m ‘sorry’ I got hurt by that!”

Okay, (in his defense) if Mingyu hadn't used so much sarcasm, Minghao could have apologized already. But air quotes are not so easily forgotten.

“Maybe you should get thicker skin,” the irritated boy shrugged.

“Hao please, my skin is so thick-”

“Obviously not.”  

Mingyu gasped audibly, clutching his heart in a dramatic display of pain. Minghao simply raised a brow.

" _Obviously_ our friendship of two years- two years, okay- means nothing to you. You know I can’t focus, so taking notes is really hard for me.”

At that, Minghao admittedly deflated, snapping his mouth shut.

He really felt like an asshole now. How could he have forgotten? It was one of the first things he had learned about Mingyu, like, _ever_. Moving all the way from China with little to no English experience had been terrifying, so Minghao was lucky to have been approached by the over-friendly boy. However, he had noticed immediately that Mingyu never stopped bouncing or whispering during class. It was obvious that Mingyu had attention issues, which he confided in Minghao about later on.

“I never said they don’t look nice,” the dancer ventured softly, “or that you did a bad job.” When Mingyu only responded with fleeting eye contact, the hurt still evident, Minghao sighed. He stretched across the table, attempting to grab his friend’s hands.

Pulling back, which admittedly stung a little, Mingyu shrugged, “I know you didn’t mean it that way. But I’m not going to let you win this one.”

“Come on Mingyu,” Minghao protested, biting his lip nervously.

“No.”

“Please? I’m really sorry,” the apologetic boy finally locked his fingers together with Mingyu’s over the table, “I promise.” Some of his sincerity must’ve reached Mingyu, because his friend now wore a gentle smile.

“I believe you. Just copy them to make it up to me, okay?” the taller chuckled, wiggling their interlocked hands before pulling away and sliding the notebook over. Mingyu’s laugh was kind of husky and low, and something hitched in Minghao’s breath. He didn’t know why, surprised by his own reaction, so instead he just swallowed it down and took the notes.

The two continued on peacefully until an announcement crackled over the intercom. Apparently, “inclement weather” was fastly approaching, and staff wanted students to make it back to their dorms before the storm got too heavy.

So the pair left the library, finding themselves sharing a too-small umbrella (Mingyu’s, of course), futilely attempting to escape the torrential downpour.

City lights blurred yellow and red on the puddle-strewn pavement underfoot, and they sparkled with each falling raindrop.

Everything was soaking wet: Minghao’s backpack, his clothes, his hair (freshly dyed- so the color was probably running down his neck right now), and Mingyu’s shoulder pressed against his.

“Does your umbrella have holes?”

“What!?” Mingyu yelled, eyes squinted with confusion, desperate to be heard over the rain.

“Does your umbrella have any holes?!”  
  
“No, why?”

“Because we’re getting soaked!” the Chinese boy shot back, sparing a glance at his friend as they ran through the onslaught. Cold, sharp pricks of water stung Minghao’s cheeks. One look at Mingyu’s face showed it was scrunched up in the same kind of blurry, chaotic pain as Minghao’s.

It was rare to see Mingyu as anything else besides textbook handsome- but oh _so_ satisfying.

A hazy, uncountable smudge of minutes passed silently between them after that. Anything they wanted to say was lost to the brutal storm, and things were comfortable enough without speaking. Minghao was almost enjoying it, the bullets of rain on his skin were refreshing- especially after being trapped in the library for hours.

Just as their dorm was coming into view, something softened in the sky, and the downpour lessened. The street quieted, now misty and glowing from the bright street lamps. There was a certain grayish-orange to the dusky atmosphere that made everything seem ethereal.

“How weird is that?” Mingyu grinned, blinking upwards, “Hao, seriously. Everything stopped, just like that. Nature is so cool.”

The redhead nodded back, attempting to stifle a laugh. Adjusting the umbrella, Mingyu slid his hand downwards, taking it from Minghao and holding it up for the both of them. As they continued, it felt like Mingyu got slower with each step- which was _stupid_ because it was still kind of raining and they should be hurrying, if anything. At one point, Minghao wondered if he was just imagining things. But, no- the other boy was definitely walking slowly.

Since Minghao wasn’t sure how much longer his hair could hold up, he spoke up with annoyance, “What are you doing?”  
  
“I- uh. Well, I guess… I have a question, kind of? It’s more of, um, a favor. But- still, a question.” Mingyu launched into conversation immediately, sounding like the kind of nervous he had been when he _started_ acting (a bleak time when the camera may as well have been a foreign object). The fact that he was avoiding Minghao’s eyes wasn’t good, either.

Typically, in this moment, it would be way too easy to tease Mingyu- but the atmosphere didn’t seem right.

So the redhead settled for, “That _was_ a question, Mingyu.”

_Nailed it._

This turned out to be the right thing to say, however, because some of the apprehension on the boy’s face melted way. Left behind was a more relaxed Mingyu, even though he still stood as stiff as a board.

“Ask me, then, before I change my mind,” Minghao teased. Nudging his shoulder playfully against the other’s, the slim boy offered a gentle smile.

There was a breath before the taller started, “Let’s just preface this with the fact that I, Kim Mingyu, am a really good friend. I always cook things for you _without_ complaining- even though it would be nice if you helped- and Speech Com would be way harder if I wasn’t there. You were even mean to my notes earlier, and-”

Minghao’s smile faltered downwards.

“You’re kidding me. I gave you a chance, and you- you ruined it-”

“-wait! Hao, Hao, listen! Sorry! Bad idea. I’ll just ask the question.” sputtered Mingyu, so anxious that the shorter smirked secretly to himself. Since he had improved greatly in speaking English, it was a lot easier to intimidate his friends now. He still loved them, of course! Minghao was just blunt- and it didn’t hurt to instill a healthy amount of fear in others. Emphasis on the ‘healthy’.

After a few more beats of their quietly wet footsteps, Mingyu spoke up, “It’s a really big favor.” Minghao half expected him to carry on, but the muscular boy just stopped. His nerves were borderline palpable, and while it wasn’t unlike Mingyu to be excitable, this was so not... _him_. Especially around Minghao, his best friend, of all people.

“I’ll indulge you just this once,” he encouraged kindly. Their steady walking had brought them closer to the dorm, so the dancer stopped- waiting for Mingyu to collect and finish his thoughts. Water drizzled down around them, speckling the soaked umbrella further. Lights from the glass front of their dorm played across Mingyu’s angular face, making everything seem much more serious in that moment. Like, too serious for Minghao’s comfort.

“Remember Nu Delta? It’s, uh, that… fraternity I was looking into at the beginning of the semester. Apparently their recruitment has been going on for a while now, and I’ve missed a lot of events. So Wonwoo- he’s one of the brothers- told me I _have_ to be at their last mixer. There’s, um, there’s a catch, though. I have to have a date. Like- an actual date. Because it’s a Valentine’s thing, a-and most of the pledges have enough points by now...”

Maybe it was the fact that they were standing outside in the bareness of night together, or the fact that the rain made everything feel so clean and empty- or maybe it was the fact that Mingyu was staring _so_ intensely at Minghao it felt like they were having a contest. Or, maybe, it was a culmination of all these things. But the redhead’s stomach started to flip and churn, unsettled by the baited silence.

“You’re going to say no,” the other boy sucked in a breath.

“Probably,” Minghao responded, voice coming out much softer than he intended. For the first time since the conversation started, their eyes locked together.

“Please be my date. The mixer is only in two weeks, so we’ll just have to pretend until then. And after, when I get inducted, I swear- we’ll call it off right away, so-”

Just like that, the spell was lifted.

“Wait, wait. Back up. _What_ did you just ask me?”  the dancer scoffed, an uncomfortable mixture of shock and confusion welling up inside him. It was almost like his head was ringing hollowly back and forth. An “out of body experience,” if you will.

“Agh, I knew it! Just- Hao, please. Be my fake boyfriend for the mixer and I swear, I’ll even pay for all of our dates. And you know how tight on money I am, so that’s the sweetest deal ever.” the older pleaded, face etched with distress.  
  
“Mingyu, you’re even stupider than I thought you were if you _seriously_ believe-”

“-I’ll help you with Speech Comm-”

“-You do that already,”

“See! Exactly!” Mingyu grinned, his almost-wolfish smile creating dimples. “You totally owe me one!”

Minghao opened his mouth to protest (vehemently, because how _dare_ he owe Kim Mingyu _at all_ ), but couldn’t find the words. Taking all things into account, the actor didn’t really ask for a lot- even on a daily basis. What he did, do, however- and as he so kindly pointed out- was help Minghao with all the things he was asked to. And, sometimes, even the things Minghao didn’t ask for. Like that one time the shorter boy was sick and Mingyu made him chicken noodle soup.

Minghao’s jaw wired shut with a click, and a triumphant expression overcame Mingyu’s face. _Damn._ It seemed impossible, but his friend’s dark eyes glittered even brighter. Mingyu looked like a dog that had just been praised.

Excitement rushed fast through his body, and forgetting that he was holding an umbrella, the boy rushed forward to hug Minghao- releasing the handle. Rain residue showered down abruptly on the pair’s shoulders, immediately soaking through to their skin. The rungs of the umbrella followed next, collapsing downwards, and tangled themselves in Minghao’s hair.

“Mingyu! Agh, get off! Ouch!” he yelped, causing the other to jump. Mingyu attempted to make things better in a nervous flurry of _‘sorry, Hao’_ s and ‘ _my bad’_ s. It was a heartwarming attempt gone wrong, but the Chinese boy stared daggers, and Mingyu momentarily backed off. Kind of like one of those tense stand-offs in old Hollywood westerns.

“You’re in though, right? Like, you’ll do this fake boyfriend thing for me?”

“I just want to make one thing clear,” the dancer ventured, holding a hand up, “I don’t owe you _anything,_ okay. I’m doing this out of the goodness of my heart.”

“Yeah, yeah, the goodness of your heart,” Mingyu echoed, attempting to reel in his energy. He just ended up bobbing back and forth on his heels. “Of course. I _promise_ you won’t regret this. We just have to act like we’re dating for the next two weeks- only when we’re in public, though.”

“ _Only_ in public.”

“Yes, of course. And don’t forget the Valentine's party! But I’ll be the best fake boyfriend _ever_ , Hao. I’ll pay for everything and open doors and pull your chair out- all you have to do is go along with it.” the auburn-haired boy beamed. Whereas Minghao could feel an abnormal amount of dread rising in him, Mingyu looked to feel nothing but happiness.

_What did I just do?_

“I can’t believe I agreed.”

“Neither can I.”

In reflection, Minghao knew he probably should’ve put up more of a fight. Like- _way_ more of a fight. But there was a part of him that just didn’t have the spirit to, especially when he saw the genuine joy on his best friend’s face by agreeing.

Minghao fleetingly scanned Mingyu for any sign of faltering, finding something like disbelief. There was a brief instance of direct eye contact. At that moment, they broke out in near-perfectly synced laughter- acknowledging the absolute _ridiculousness_ of the situation, and just how _stupid_ it was. In the face of something like this, you couldn’t do anything but laugh.

Mingyu was the first to recollect himself, and straightened up, linking his arm with Minghao’s- who was still giggling here and there. Suddenly, Minghao became hyper aware of the connection in their touch.   
  
_Oh._ So they were starting _now._ It was like the moment on a rollercoaster when it comes to the top of a drop, and your cart stops in preparation. Your heart stops, too.

Minghao shot a pointed glare at the taller boy, hissing, “Nobody is around.” The two had finally reached the dorm’s lobby, which was _completely_ empty besides one security guard. There was no reason for the couple-y stuff to start now.

“It’s okay,” Mingyu shrugged. “This is just me getting practice. I’m an actor, I have to rehearse.” the lift in his tone, more playful than usual, almost sounded like… like… _flirting._

Kim Mingyu, his best friend, was _flirting_ with him. Minghao couldn’t stop the blush from overtaking his face, even if he wanted to.

_So not okay. Really uncalled for._

This was going to be an excruciating two weeks.

 

* * *

 

For what felt like the gazillionth time that night, Minghao’s phone buzzed from underneath his covers. Due to a hazy brain on the verge of sleep, it took him a little to register what the text said.

 **mingyu!!** **•ㅅ•** (12:03 am)

so im going to tell the guys were “dating” tomorrow, okay? it’s lights, camera, action! ★.★

Suppressing a groan (half because tomorrow he’d be dating Kim Mingyu, and half because his friend had to _stop_ texting bad jokes and emoticons), Minghao managed a sleepy response. 

 **minghao** (12:04 am)

fine

Not really caring if Mingyu planned on responding or not, the redhead locked his phone and threw the damned thing back between his sheets. The excitable guy had blown up his device with ‘instructions’ on how their two-week relationship should go- for the past _two hours_.

Such was extremely infuriating, because firstly, Minghao didn’t ask for this, and secondly, he certainly didn’t ask to follow realistic etiquette rules for a _fake_ relationship.

Turning to his side, the covers rustling softly, Minghao breathed a sigh. No matter how hard he tried, sleep escaped him. Time still seemed to pass despite this, the hushed thrum of the rain having stopped completely. Slowly, his body lost its ability to stay awake- but his mind sure didn’t. It was a nonstop fight between thoughts and sensations.

The subject was, alarmingly enough, Kim Mingyu.

His best friend.

Or, a person Minghao had always _called_ his best friend. He wasn’t sure how true that was, after all. Friends didn’t normally get in fake relationships with each other and proceed to get butterflies at affection that wasn’t real.

Burying his nose further into his pillow, Minghao kind of hoped his comforter would swallow him up. That way, he could just disappear and not have to think about why his best friend made him all fluttery. There was no reason _to_ feel that way. Mingyu was just Mingyu. He had a stupidly perfect face, canines that peeked out when he smiled, and the clumsiness of a newborn puppy. And he could cook _._

Nothing special at all.

Minghao reasoned that the emotion wasn’t _really_ his, because in a situation like this, who wouldn’t feel a little odd? It would almost be weird to not feel weird. So he chalked the sensation up to an one-time thing, and pushed it far back into his mind. Where it would stay. Forever.

Mingyu wasn’t making his valiant effort easier, however. When Minghao had asked why _he_ was chosen, of all people, Mingyu explained the brothers were curious of his non-pledge friends.

The glow of those texts were still burnt in the redhead’s mind: 

 **mingyu!!** **•ㅅ•** (10:59 pm)

i panicked when they asked me about my social life. what kind of question is that!!

 

 **minghao** (11:00 pm)

a stupid one

 **minghao** (11:01 pm)

wait that was the first time you’ve mentioned me? really? some best friend you are

 

 **mingyu!! •ㅅ•** (11:01 pm)

hao no!!! hao please forgiv e mee OTL

 **mingyu!! •ㅅ•** (11:01 pm)

i talk about u a lot i swear!!! hsdhj i swear! ^^; it’s why i picked u, this way it wont seem suspicious that i have a bf!

 

 **minghao** (11:04 pm)

i don’t get it

 

 **mingyu!! •ㅅ•** (11:05 pm)

they already kno who u are, duh. bc i talk about u, us dating wont be out of the blue!! ^.~

 

Yep. Kim Mingyu _really_ was not helping his case, in any way imaginable. Not even the cringeworthy emoticons could stop Minghao from feeling a bit flustered, and a bit giddy. But that wasn’t good. It was the _opposite_ of what he wanted. So the boy took these memory-imprinted texts, and threw them as far away as he could. Into the trash.

Minghao let the smooth darkness of his room overcome him, timing his breathing until it was low and even. Hopefully his mind would allow some silence, and he could rest in preparation.

He was going to need it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ive always wanted to write a super self-indulgent fake dating au, so i hope you had as much fun reading it as i did writing it! thank you! hopefully it made you smile. the next chapter is already written, so it's just editing and staying on top of things now. im new to the fandom, so... leave a comment! let's talk! have a good one ^( '‿' )^
> 
> ps.... did you catch the cheesy as fuck chapter title? since i dont know how to make titles for stuff that's gonna be a trend


	2. fronting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The curtain rises on Act One of "Kim Mingyu and Xu Minghao's Fake Love".

_“ALL THE SINGLE LADIES, ALL THE SINGLE LADIES! ALL THE SINGLE LADIES, ALL THE SINGL-”_

It took Minghao approximately six seconds to shut off Beyonce’s belting voice the next morning. He lost his phone to some cavern under the sheets, making it near-impossible to find. This, combined with the red hot realization that he _still_ hadn’t changed his alarm after Soonyoung messed with it, made Minghao’s morning a bad one.

_What a way to start the day._

Everything just got worse as Minghao blearily unlocked his phone, scanning the multitude of messages from the previous night. After numbly flicking through the texts for a moment, awareness of his situation flooded back all too quickly.

He was dating Kim Mingyu.

Well, he was “dating” him. They weren’t _actually_ dating. Regardless- he’d really have to change his alarm now, because Xu Minghao was technically no longer a “single lady”.

He inhaled in for a count, held it, and let everything out. The sensation Minghao experienced was how he imagined the “morning after” would be: hurried and a little embarrassed because things happened overnight that should _not_ have. In his particular case, however, there was a certain tingling that came with the unease. This felt similarly to sparks- but the soft, harmless type. Like lighting a sparkler in the dead of a summer night to watch it shower down in a warm array of reds and yellows.  

Minghao only came to terms with that description if he labeled it as “dread”. As in, he was _dreading_ the idea of being forced into a fake relationship with Mingyu. He was _not_ excited about it.

None of it had to do with the confusion he felt the night before.

Nope, not at all.

The dancer tried to clear his mind via sheer willpower, and sat up in bed. His alarm was set for 8:30 am, which meant there was only half an hour before Speech Communications. Slowly, he went through the motions of waking up. Minghao breathed deep as he picked out an outfit and washed his face, moving about half as fast as he usually did. He then gathered everything into his backpack, and made sure to grab his phone before heading out.

While Minghao lived in a double (meaning he _should_ have a roommate), the second bed in his room was empty. The student that stayed there first semester left halfway through, and the redhead still had no clue as to why.

It was times like this, though, that he relished in the fact he lived alone. It gave him time to sort out his thoughts and blast Avril Lavigne (a guilty pleasure) in solitude. And since Minghao’s first class of the day was with his new “boyfriend”, he needed all the silent reflection time he could get.

After he entered the hallway, Minghao only made it to the elevator before his phone vibrated in his pocket. The device’s face lit up with a gigantic, emoticon riddled text from- of _course_ \- Mingyu.

 **mingyu!!** **•ㅅ•** (9:50 am)

morrnniingg babe! (>^_^)> wanna meet down in the lobby? 

It took every fiber of Minghao’s being to not gag aloud at the message on his screen. If he could’ve bleached his eyeballs safely, he would’ve.

 **minghao** (9:51 am)

only if you never call me babe again

 

 **mingyu!!** **•ㅅ•** (9:51 am)

no! we talked about this ㅜㅜ we gotta act the part hao!!

 

 **minghao** (9:51 am)

mingyu i swear to god

 

 **mingyu!!** **•ㅅ•** (9:52 am)

babe... ur breaking my heart ㅠㅠ i cant lose u, not like this

 

 **minghao** (9:53 am)

i’m in the elevator. see you soon. 

The boy pocketed his phone, unable to take any more of _whatever_ Mingyu was doing. Minghao’s ears grew hot as the elevator descended, his flushed reaction betraying the idea that the texts disgusted him. By the time he reached the bottom floor, Minghao nearly stumbled out, still grappling with the fact that Mingyu had fazed him. The perpetrator himself was there waiting in the lobby for Minghao, leaning up against the security desk.

“Hey, let’s go.” the boy quipped in greeting, to which Mingyu looked up. They made direct eye contact, and Mingyu shoved his phone away, skipping a beat to catch up.

“Hey honey!”

Minghao stopped dead in his tracks.

“ _What_ did you just call me?” he snapped, head whipped around in a flash of red hair.

“Well,” Mingyu shrugged, “you said I can’t call you ‘babe’. So I thought ‘honey’ was more appropriate, _honey._ ” the taller smirked, those stupidly cute canines of his flashed in Minghao’s direction. The offended boy scoffed audibly, which only fueled the smugness on Mingyu’s countenance.

It was an _awful_ sight.

Any lingering feelings of cheesy butterflies in Minghao’s stomach, or flushing cheeks, dissipated in that moment. If the auburn haired boy was going to be so insistent right off the bat, then Minghao would meet him stride for stride. He decided the only way to get through the next two weeks was by making it a competition. So whatever stupid, flirty, and rudely uncalled for things Mingyu decided to do, Minghao would just have to hit back harder.

And, no, it was totally _not_ an excuse for the mixed emotions Minghao was feeling.

“Fine. Then what are we waiting for? Wouldn’t want to be late to class.” the shorter quipped, after a beat of silence. Minghao tried to make his voice as honey-sweet as possible, accompanied by his hand reached toward Mingyu’s. Slowly but carefully, he entwined their fingers together, actively ignoring how the contact made his heart beat a little faster.

Minghao wasn’t sweating, okay, it was just overheating due to his coat. It would stop _right_ when he got outside.

“U-um, yeah. Okay. Let’s go… then?” came a coughing, stuttering voice from behind the redhead as he lead Mingyu towards the doors. Minghao turned around to see (interestingly enough), a light dusting of pink across the taller one’s cheeks.

Mingyu was blushing, literally _blushing,_ as his hand fumbled to hold Minghao’s. This- combined with the show of nervousness in his voice- was pretty odd behavior.

Minghao figured it was embarrassment from being dragged around like a puppy on a leash by someone half his weight. He also guessed that Mingyu thought of their “relationship” like a competition, too- because if there was one thing Minghao knew about his friend, it was that they were the same person. Their scarily similar behavior was evidence enough of that.

Pushing open the doors, a cold blast of air met the pair. Minghao pulled up the collar of his hood to protect his skin, eyes squint against the sun. Rain from the previous night had frozen to the ground, creating glossy puddles of ice that clouded the pavement. The sky was clear, and the sunlight created bright kaleidoscopes of reflections off the ground.

“I feel like we should’ve brought sunglasses,” Mingyu chuckled, his steps now even with Minghao’s. His breath was visible in the frigid morning air, curled in interspersed puffs of white.

Minghao teased fondly, “Grin and bear it, Mingyu, it only takes 5 minutes to get to class.” That was one of the plus-sides of a city campus: small property equaled short walks.

Somewhere along the way, the younger released his hold on the Mingyu’s hand so he could stuff his own into his pockets. It was too cold to be exposed like that. Of course, Mingyu refused to let it slide.

Because, apparently, he was great at being annoying as hell.

“Hao, I’m _offended._ ”

“Why?”

“You don’t want to hold hands,” he protested, brows furrowed a little. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Yes,” Minghao replied, without hesitation. Mingyu let out an indignant huff, not ready to admit defeat and let it go. Moments like this were another downside of being so similar- both were stubborn as hell, and they bickered too often.

“I was kidding,” he followed up, quietly adding, “my hands are just cold.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“My hands are cold,” Minghao shot back, his voice sharper this time. He turned his head to the other boy just in time to see him throw up his hands in exasperation.

“Holding hands helps, Hao! This is ‘Couple Logic 101’. It would warm you up.” Mingyu explained, voice pitched in frustration. The auburn haired boy was staring wide at Minghao, who just gave the smallest hint of a smile- and shook his head.

Once Mingyu had called him “honey” earlier, he had basically taken the lead. Minghao shifted the scales by forcing them to hold hands- but with how ridiculous they were acting, it would soon be too hard to keep count.

Minghao found himself questioning why they fought so hard to _stay_ fighting. How headstrong could two people be?

The two continued on silently afterwards, and finally reached their building. Minghao was thankful to slip inside, away from the abhorrently cold weather. But just as the warmth hit him, so did the realization that _today_ was the day of his speech. Which was why he had visited the library with Mingyu in the first place.

But since there was a “distraction”, the night wasn’t productive at all (Mingyu _technically_ “asked him out” _after_ studying- but Minghao blamed him anyway). He pulled out his ID and tapped in at the security desk, climbing up the stairs. Mingyu was a little behind as he fished around in his bag for his own card, leaving Minghao alone as his panic built exponentially.

A clouded sensation filled his head and slowly seeped through his veins, until all of him was infected. Even his heart, usually steady, thumped at a rapid pace in his chest- and Minghao held his breath without noticing. It normally wasn’t like this. Sure, he could get nervous of speaking at times, but it was never this bad _._ His brain was on hyperactive autopilot: moving in an automatic haze and unable to focus on anything but the sensation of nervousness.

Without fully comprehending where his body was going, Minghao made it up the stairs and down the hallway to their classroom. Mingyu trailed behind him, and opened the door for them, chatting casually as they entered.

The pair headed for their seats nestled near the window, and Mingyu giggled at a joke he made. It was a distant echo in Minghao’s ears, and he shot back a numb smile. If his brain was a TV, the cord was pulled and the screen flickered black and white static.

Funny how his mood could make a 180° in less than a minute.

_“Hao?”_

It wasn’t that he was scared of public speaking. He knew he could deliver a speech perfectly- but only if he was confident. And Minghao didn’t trust his imperfect English enough to be confident, fearful of messing up his words. Which was embarrassing, so he never really spoke about it. That choice was one hundred percent due to his stubborn pride, which Minghao also knew, and he hated that he didn’t change that- in so many ways.

_You’re in a fake relationship with your best friend, what’s more stubborn than that?_

_“You listening?”_

Minghao’s stomach rolled over on itself as he reached into his bag and grabbed his cue cards. If he could just re-memorize them now, and then get up and speak, it would all be over soon enough.

“Hao! What’s up?” Mingyu’s insistence finally broke through Minghao’s low-key hysteria.

“...huh?” Minghao responded, voice weak. He slowly moved his gaze from the cards clutched in his hand to the actor. Mingyu stared right back, eyes wide and questioning. Usually Minghao was great at reading his friend’s expressions, but he couldn’t tell if Mingyu was concerned or confused or _what_.

“You’re spacing out.” the auburn-haired boy chided teasingly, now that he had gotten the shorter’s attention. “Did you hear what I said about Jeonghan’s reaction to us dating?”

“Yeah, he’s hilarious.”

Mingyu raised an eyebrow, “You sure?”

The distracted boy took too long to respond, leaving a buzzing silence between them. By the time Minghao thought to say “yes”, the professor began his spiel- launching into an introduction for their speeches. Mingyu leaned back in his seat, hand reached up to rest in the thickness of his hair. For a moment it sounded like he said something, but Minghao didn’t catch it. The other boy wasn’t looking at him anymore either, so he simply dismissed it.

“...So let’s get started. If you all stick to the time limit, we can get out early. Xu Minghao, you’re up first.”

 _What? That’s great. Okay. Let’s go first then._ Minghao swallowed down the lump in his throat and stood up, grip tightened on his index cards. His professor offered an encouraging smile as he reached the front of the class. It didn’t help, but he wished it did.

The speech itself was a blur from start to finish.

Minghao looked down at his notes a lot, which he would get points off for, but it was better be deducted for memorization than mispronunciation. To him- at least. He’d rather forget _what_ he was saying over the language itself.

Whenever the dancer stumbled over his words, he subconsciously found his way to Mingyu. The other was smiling brightly at him the whole time, silly canines and all. It was a burst of familiarity and comfort amidst the pressure of talking, and although Minghao would never tell him- it helped him get through the presentation.

Upon finishing, tension left Minghao all at once, the nerves rushing away. Mingyu flashed him a thumbs up, nearly bouncing in his seat, and the redhead nodded back shyly. Recognition from Mingyu resembled how a puppy jumps on its owner after they’ve been gone for a long time. Minghao couldn’t help but be a little sheepish from his friend’s praise.

The rest of the class’s speeches followed quickly, so the session let out early- as hoped. The duo gathered their things and headed out into the chatter filled hallway, dodging people here and there. It wasn’t until they were down the stairs and back outside did Mingyu pipe up.

“Hao! That was _great!”_ the older boy basically jumped, elated that Minghao made it through. “I knew you could do it. Ah, you did so well!”

Minghao shrugged, despite the grin on his face, “Of course I did… thank you, though.”

The sidewalk was filled with other students, and the boy suddenly remembered their “arrangement”. Since he and Mingyu were out in public, Minghao’s hand snuck downwards again to find the other’s. The whole thing felt too natural, though, in that moment- and Minghao stopped himself, shoving his hand back in his pocket.

It wasn’t the right time. They were having what seemed to be a sincere talk, so why ruin it with fake affection?

“Don’t get too full of yourself,” Mingyu teased back, “but you should be proud. _I’m_ proud, Hao.” The relieved boy giggled to himself at that, and nudged his “boyfriend’s” side gently with his elbow.

The biting cold from the early morning had melted away, leaving a gentleness to the air, garnished with a full sun. Glassy puddles of ice persisted on the sidewalk, but most had begun to melt down, and the scent of rain from the night before rose in their absence.

“Hey,” Mingyu started again, and Minghao tuned back in. “Were you nervous before? I mean, I know you were nervous for the speech, but like… more than usual?”

The smaller boy’s mouth opened in a soft ‘o’ of surprise. He didn’t think Mingyu had even noticed. Besides, the speech was done with, so why did it matter how stressed he _might’ve_ been?

Minghao looked away and mumbled, “No. Normal amount of nerves.”

“Really? Because I asked you about Jeonghan’s reaction when it wasn’t even Jeonghan I was talking about. So I would say it wasn’t normal.” Mingyu’s voice was casually stern, like he had wanted to say it for a while, and didn’t care if Minghao objected or not. Mingyu looked down to his feet, and a hesitant ‘uh’ slipped out of the startled boy.

“Would you believe me if I said I was teasing you?” Minghao laughed nervously, refusing to look at the other.

The longer he could hold out on whatever prophetic thing Mingyu wanted to say, the better. The auburn-haired boy always had a way of hitting things on the head, (they had known each other for two years after all) and it made Minghao uncomfortable. He shouldn’t be that easy to read. Mingyu was a clumsy, puppy-like guy who wanted to join a fraternity at an art school; the dancer didn’t want to admit he could be right about anything.

“You know...” Mingyu spoke up before taking a long breath, like he was choosing his words carefully, “You can tell me if you’re nervous. I’ll give you a last minute pep talk or something.”

Minghao opened his mouth to speak, but Mingyu held up a hand to stop him, “Hao, I know you’re going to say you don’t need my help. You always do that, though. But you asked for me to basically tutor you for speech class, so I think you _do_ need my help. I think you literally said that to me when we started?”

“Anyways,” the actor shook his head, “the point is that you can _always_ ask me. You can talk to me. You’re great at speaking English and you’re getting better all the time! It’s okay if you mess up, too, you know. And it’s okay to ask for help, bud.”

Biting his lip, Minghao cursed the heavens then and there for their creation of Kim Mingyu. Nobody, okay- _nobody-_ should be able to read his emotions so clearly like that. It was totally rude and uncalled for. And a little scary.

He couldn’t think of anything to say except, “I was serious when I said I didn’t need your help.” Mingyu cocked his head, and the normally cheery boy looked like he was ready to kick Minghao into next year.

Since Minghao knew when to tease his friend and when not to, and he was a good person, (most of the time), he gave in with a smile, “Thanks, Mingyu.”

The satisfied, lopsided grin that lit the praised boy’s face was worth it, and once again Minghao found himself blushing. That _seriously_ needed to stop. His weird, skipping heartbeat was more annoying than his overenthusiastic fake boyfriend at this point.

* * *

 

Instead of going back to his dorm, Mingyu mentioned something about visiting one of the fraternity brothers, and parted ways with Minghao. The Chinese boy was left sitting alone in his room, turning his phone over in his hands. 

 **minghao** (12:05 pm)

what are you doing right now

 

 **junnie** (12:05 pm)

xiao hao hao! good morning to you too

 

 **minghao** (12:06 pm)

technically it’s afternoon  
  
**minghao** (12:08 pm)

my door is unlocked by the way 

It didn’t take long for Junhui to make his way over.

About 5 minutes after Minghao sent the text, the elder swung open the door with a sing-songy “Good morning!”, throwing himself down on the absent bed without hesitation.

“Nice to see you too, Junhui,” Minghao deadpanned, eyebrow raised at his energetic cousin. They’d known each other since birth, virtually, so Minghao had lived through Jun’s weird and over affectionate antics for 19 years (“lived through” was strong, Minghao really did appreciate Jun).

“Hey, you ever figure out where your roommate went?”

“I think it was financial. Or family issues, I’m not really sure.” the younger shrugged, leaning forward so he could prop his elbows up on his knees, as Junhui got comfortable.

“Dang. And he was cute, too.” Jun sighed in brief frustration, “Anyway, why’d you ask me to come over? Something must really be bugging you, Hao Hao. To talk to me, you know. Especially when I’m always down for talking, it’s usually you who isn’t.”

The self-satisfied look on his face was evidence enough he was looking for a _certain_ answer. Minghao took in a deep breath.

“So! You must’ve heard Mingyu and I are dating.” Minghao launched straight into the conversation, regarding Junhui with a level stare.

“I don’t live under a rock, Hao Hao. Of course I heard! He’s really excited. All the brothers were probably even more excited,” the black-haired boy’s smile got wider, his voice brighter, “I just wish you would’ve told me first! I had to find out my closest cousin was dating someone from the boy he’s dating, and not him.”

“I guess he just beat me to the punch.”

“Mhm. So how’d he ask you out? I’m just glad he finally got the guts to, it was really annoying watching him talk about you with hearts eyes and everything.” the man laughed, his head tilted with an airy, happy smile. Like it always was with Junhui, he seemed genuine, but Minghao could never read him truthfully.

 _It’s not like he could already figure out we’re not_ really _together... right?_

_Right?_

At that moment, Minghao’s phone rumbled atop his bed, saving him from answering the prying boy’s question. He unlocked the screen with an eager swipe, and saw a notification from... Mingyu.

  **mingyu!!** **•ㅅ•** (12:27 pm)

look out ur window! 'ㅂ'

_What in the..._

“Um,” Minghao stuttered, astonishment so clear in his voice that Junhui looked up in concern. The cousins locked in a staring contest for a solid minute before the taller one spoke up.

“Something wrong?” Junhui asked, lips downturned in a frown.

“Can you look out the window?” the younger blurted out, almost too quickly, refusing to turn his head and follow Mingyu’s instructions. His dorm was on the 12th floor of a building in the _city…_ out his window was just empty air.

What was going on?

The elder pulled a face, but obliged without questioning, and glanced outside. Almost immediately, Junhui chuckled, dropping his head to rest in his hands, smiling uncontrollably.

“Oh my god, Minghao, look right now. Holy-” Junhui was in such a fit of laughter that he couldn’t form his words properly, and pointed outside instead. Raising an eyebrow, Minghao tentatively stood, moving to the window.

Now, Minghao was fully aware that his building was adjacent to another dorm. In fact, he was _super_ fully aware of this because there had been multiple times when he was changing and had forgotten to draw the blinds.

But never in his _life_ did he expect to see Kim Mingyu grinning back at him from the 12th floor of the other building, waving his hands like a maniac.

“Someone help me,” Minghao whispered, truly too stunned to react. Mingyu was looming over a boy about half his size, but judging by the weary expression on his face, he was older. Nobody looked that tired without having gone through a bit of life. However, he had messy, cotton candy hair that perfectly contradicted the exhaustion, highlighting how he was almost... cute.

The poor guy.

Mingyu hadn’t stopped waving, his face so ridiculously bright and sunny that Minghao wanted to just reach over and slap it off. He really shared a _striking_ likeness with puppies.

From somewhere behind him came Junhui’s voice, his cockiness palpable, “Geez Hao Hao, you’ve got yourself an enthusiastic boyfriend. Better get used to it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you liked this chapter!! we finally have the foundation, so get ready for some more fleshing out of frats and other random things next chapter... and more characters ;) im thinking ill be able to churn out weekly updates if i dont get too busy.
> 
> also um??? you are literally all TOO DANG KIND! i've never been welcomed so WARMLY before like i was with this. so carats you're all too awesome and i dont deserve you omg... 
> 
> drop a comment/question/concern/suggestion or whatever you want!!! also, come talk to me on tumblr (@littleladysugar) or twitter (@fairy_hao), i'd love to be friends! stay awesome! ♡
> 
> p.s. i have a spotify playlist i write to, do y'all want it?


	3. simple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minghao is going to drown in caramel macchiatos by the end of the semester.

Minghao took a sip from his iced coffee, fingers wrapped around the base as he played with the straw. The ice cubes shifted noisily, clicking against each other as they swirled around. It was his usual order- an iced caramel macchiato- but for some reason, it tasted even sweeter today.

Probably since it was paid for with Mingyu’s money.

“I still think it’s funny that _that’s_ your drink of choice,” Minghao’s “study buddy” commented. His perfect teeth flashed in a playful smile, like always. Mingyu ripped off a generous piece of his croissant, popping it into his mouth and staring down the other boy. He was met with an exasperated eye roll.

“Junhui says that too. It’s because I’m _bitter_ , so my drink should reflect that, right?” Minghao says, feeling irritated and increasingly grateful that Mingyu paid for his coffee. Even if he was being teased, at least he didn’t spend five dollars on bean filtered water.

“Well Junhui has a point,” he hears, snarky and offhanded. The look on Mingyu’s face as he grins is so smug that Minghao wonders, _should I set a timer on my phone to the minute we break up?_

He takes another swig, as if the more he drinks the less money Mingyu has. Revenge is a dish best served cold, after all.

But the puppy-like man just chuckled, “So what else did you want to know? About the fraternity and stuff, not Speech.” Mingyu pushed the smattering of papers on their table further towards the end, and turned his full attention to Minghao.

Finding it a little intense to be given such undiverted focus, his eyes darted away.

It was almost reminiscent of the time they had first met. When Mingyu learned that his new friend knew martial arts, and had bugged him to show off his nunchuck skills until Minghao _finally_ caved in. He had never seen someone so impressed by something he took as simple.

“Go over all the brothers for me, again, please,” Minghao requested, blinking thoughtfully. He readied himself to re-memorize the onslaught of names- if they were going to pull off this whole “fake relationship” thing, it was essential to know the members by heart.

With his luck, after all, they’d be the first people he’d slip up in front of. Mingyu cracked his knuckles in preparation, and Minghao couldn’t help but laugh.

“So there’s the seniors. You have Seungcheol- he’s the president- and then Jeonghan and Jisoo. Junhui- who you know, obviously- Wonwoo, Jihoon, and Soonyoung are the juniors. They’re all pretty cool! Jihoon is actually the one who lives across from you, I was in his room when I waved to-”

“Wait, wait, _wait.”_ Minghao sputtered, nearly choking on his caramel macchiato. “ _Soonyoung_ is in your frat? You mean, guy-who-has-the-same-major-as-me-and-is-in-all-my-classes Soonyoung?”

The same Soonyoung that sent him weird texts at 3am and changed his ringtones. Or, more appropriately, the same Soonyoung that he had dance practice with in an hour or so.

Mingyu stared back, mouth hanging open like a fish.

“Um, yes? Hao, haven’t you been listening? I mentioned him the past two times.” he asked, brow furrowed in concern. Mourning what little pride he had left, Minghao moaned dramatically. _I’m never doing any favors for anyone ever again. I’m stupid and this whole thing is stupid_.

“Yeah, you did. Sorry. Just- just keep going, please.” Minghao dropped his head down into his hands and waved at Mingyu to continue.

“Uh, okay, well. There’s all of those guys, and then Hansol, Seungkwan, and Seokmin are pledges with me. I would watch out for Seungkwan especially, he’s friendly and crazy good at picking up on stuff? Oh and pledging is, as you know- or _should_ know, I don’t think you’ve been listening- recruitment for the fraternity. That’s why I have to get all these secret points and go to events and stuff, so I can qualify. Then I’ll be an official brother. Oh! There’s also Chan, he’s Seungcheol’s little brother and goes to a high school close by. He’s around a lot.” He finished, lips pursed in thought. Mingyu never got tired of talking, especially with stuff he knew a lot about, and he fixed his gaze expectantly on Minghao.

The overwhelmed boy pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes until he saw little, white stars. It was enough to distract him from the situation for a moment, but only a moment. When that passed, he breathed in, and looked back up.

“Any more questions?”

“Well,” Minghao exhaled, “besides the whole ‘we’re best friends so they won’t think you’re made up’ thing, is there any particular reason I was your victim?”

“Victim? That’s a little harsh! I’m not a bad boyfriend, so _excuse_ you,” Mingyu whined. “And, besides, you could’ve said no, Hao- you know that.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Oh. Well…” Mingyu trailed off. He hummed a little, lips pressed in a firm line while Minghao waited with growing impatience. He rested his fingers on top of his coffee cup, instinctively tapping to the beat of the soft instrumental playing in the café.

“I guess it was the safest option? Once I ‘cross over’ I become an official brother, and then we can stop dating. That’ll be right after the Valentine’s party. If I explain that we were just friends trying something, and ended up not working out, it won’t seem suspicious. Or I could always say that I wanted a fresh start, since there’ll be fraternity mixers and I’ll be meeting new people, so I decided to break up with you.” Mingyu spoke in almost one breath, as if he had practiced this before, and stuffed another piece of his croissant in his mouth.

“Well now, that’s slightly offensive. I think the _real_ reason is that you couldn’t find anyone better than me,” Minghao scoffed, eyes narrowed. Mingyu regarded him with an unidentifiable look, searching.

“Who knows.”

Minghao’s stomach flipped, and alarms blared _loud_ in his head. His blood ran numb because _did I hear that correctly? What?_ Mingyu’s gaze met the other’s deeply, dark brown eyes locked there.

He wasn’t sure they were even talking about the same thing. _What the heck does he mean?_

More troubling, however, was the process of deciphering _why_ he was reacting so extremely. It felt like a rock hitting the bottom of a pond and stirring up the soil, and Minghao was left in a cloud of confusion and murky debris. Something about the tone in his voice, and the way he so unwaveringly held their eyes together, made Minghao’s thoughts scatter and his tongue heavy.

_Nope. This is weird._

Before he could articulate any sort of thought, though, he heard a chiming, “Mingyu! How long have you been there? Did you come to visit me at work?”

The older looked away, fast, breaking _whatever_ it was they’d been holding. Dizzied by the rush of confusion and feeling like he had just been punched in the gut or something, Minghao could only glance down. His head was throbbing.

“Oh, Seungkwan! Um, only a little bit,” Mingyu sounded awry. “And not really, but we can pretend!”

_Seungkwan?_

Wasn’t Seungkwan a brother or whoever? Or a pledge? (Even after the 2,746 times Mingyu explained to him how fraternities worked, he still had no idea, but if he asked one more time it would crush what little pride he had left.)

He raised his head up, and made startlingly direct eye contact with a face. This newcomer was round and bright, his hair a softly faded yellow that reminded Minghao of peaches.

The first thought that popped into his mind was how _weird_ Mingyu’s fraternity was. The two students across from him were polar opposites, and made a strange pair- but that was only a couple of brothers together. The fraternity as a whole was probably even more mismatched.

Seungkwan cheerily proclaimed, “You must be Minghao!” He offered up one of the cheesiest grins in existence, cheeks dimpling. Minghao's stomach turned again.

_How did he guess so quickly? That’s terrifying._

Shifting uneasily in his seat, suddenly very aware that he was sitting on hard wood and there was no getting comfortable, Minghao nods. Across the table, his friend shot him a pointed look.

Realizing that right _here and now_ was his “boyfriend” debut, Minghao piped up, “Yes… that’s me. Nice to meet you.” He hesitated. “Seungkwan, right?”

His voice felt foreign on his tongue, as if he was functioning without any real control. Minghao silently blamed it on the fact that this was thrown at him too fast, and also that Mingyu had suggested the cafe Seungkwan _worked_ at (but didn’t think to warn him). _Really, who does that?_

He made a mental note to give Mingyu hell about it later.

Seungkwan hummed sweetly, “Nice to finally meet you, too. It’s so weird to see you in the flesh! For a little bit we thought Mingyu was lying about having a date- but you’re obviously real- so it’s just surprising you would say _yes_ .” Fitting himself into the conversation, he pulled up an empty stool to the edge of the table. It scraped _loud_ against the floorboards. Part of Minghao was relieved that he joined in, since he wasn’t sure he could carry on with such a weird air between he and Mingyu alone.

“He texted us yesterday morning like, ‘guess who got a date to the Valentine’s mixer?’ And Jihoon said, ‘not you’ but he was totally wrong.” The boy snickered, “So we’re all mildly shocked that Mingyu convinced you to date him, but I’m _so_ happy for you! Ah, except… please tell us if he’s keeping you hostage or anything.” Mischievously, the blond leaned in, placing his hand as a barrier so Mingyu wouldn’t hear the last part. Minghao briefly considered playing along with it- because right now he _did_ feel like a prisoner.

Besides talking with Junhui the previous day, this was the first time Minghao had heard anyone address him and Mingyu dating. He resisted the urge to correct Seungkwan.

Mingyu cleared his throat, “Come on, you don’t need to tell him how hard I tried. I still have an image to upkeep.” But instead of exuding the smooth confidence one would expect, he almost sounded flustered, tripping on his words. Tentatively Minghao looked over, and saw how _pink_ Mingyu’s cheeks were.

 _Either he’s overheating in that stupid turtleneck, or is a_ bad _actor and doesn’t know how to improvise,_ Minghao reasoned, a little amused. Apparently Mingyu wasn’t as good at this game as he thought himself to be.

In fact- Minghao was probably better.

His familiar competitive streak won out over the sense of apprehension. He reached forward, resting his palm softly on top of Mingyu’s. Playfully drumming the tips of his fingers against the other’s tan skin, he pushed away the intrusive: _How are his hands so soft?_

That subtle, fading sensation returned- swimming around in Minghao’s head. His mind felt like it was swelling bigger bigger  _bigger_ and there wasn't a way to shake himself out of it. Which was very annoying and would surely inhibit his ability to _roast_ Mingyu, much to his chagrin.

The amount of times his mental dial had set to “unfeeling and unresponsive” in the past few days was astounding.

“Don’t worry, I never thought you were cool to begin with,” he said, as matter-of-factly as possible. Mingyu stammered in protest, caught off guard by the sudden change, and Minghao smirked. Things got a bit clearer.

_Got ya._

Seungkwan let out a low whistle, stifling a laugh at the look on the taller’s face. But he quickly left focus as Mingyu licked his lips, ready to retaliate. Minghao ignored how the movement made his breath hitch- but only because he didn’t want to admit that Mingyu had intimidated him.

 _No_ , he was not making an excuse for the way his heart beat faster. He was genuinely just trying to win this back-and-forth. All it was was just distaste at the idea of losing.

“Ha, really?” Mingyu chuckled lowly, voice dripping with confidence- Minghao wanted to _murder_ him. “Then what changed your mind?”

_Dammit._

The brief silence encouraged him on, “I mean, there _has_ to be a reason you said yes.” His stupid, _stupid_ canines- all sharp and puppy-like (though right now they looked more predatory than anything)- poked past his grin. As if to mock his friend further, Mingyu pulled his hand out from under Minghao’s resting one, and twisted so that their fingers were interlocked.

What probably seemed typical, couple-y banter felt like fire to Minghao. It numbed his senses, and his skin buzzed where they touched. He avoided staring at how their hands fit together.

“Well, who says there has to be? I think you might still need to impress me.” _What is happening?_

“Oh, is that so?”

“I believe it is. Come on Mr. Kim, I know you can do better.”

“At least you have faith in me, then,” he retorted, clicking his tongue against the back of his teeth. Mingyu leaned forward in his chair, elbows rested on the table, and if Minghao’s pulse was quick before, it was _lightspeed_ now.

_Nope. Stop. This is only because Mingyu is good at arguing all of a sudden, and you’re scared of losing. Pull yourself together._

“Okay then, guess you guys skipped _right over_ the ‘Honeymoon’ period.” Seungkwan interjected, and for the second time since he showed up, Minghao was grateful for his presence. “But my boss is gonna yell at me if I don’t get back to work, so I need to leave you two. Don’t kill each other while I’m gone yet, okay?”

The pair turned to him in unison, and Minghao nodded weakly. “O-of course. Go ahead. It was great to meet you.”

When Seungkwan left with a wave and disappeared into the throng of customers, Minghao realized just how _much_ he was sweating. He let out a labored breath, a mixture of relief and (belated) panic washing over him. Was it normal to sweat so profusely? Should he see a doctor or something? Thank _God_ the ice in his drink hadn’t melted- the cup was refreshingly cool against his warm hands.

He would never say it out loud, but this was a lot more challenging than he thought it would be. Pretending to be in love with his best friend, especially off the cuff like that, was _not_ up Minghao’s alley. Unless you counted blurting out whatever came to your mind as “successful”.

“Kim Mingyu, I’m going to ki-”

“Hao!” The outburst cut him off. Mingyu was simply beaming, “That was so good! Oh my god, you’re an even better fake boyfriend than I thought you’d be.”

Too stunned to say anything else, he managed, “...Thank you?”

“And- don’t kill me, please, by the way- I’m sorry for not mentioning that Seungkwan works here. I probably should’ve thought of that.” Mingyu added. He was rushing to apologize lest the other reach over the table, _strangling_ him right then and there. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, ruffling up tufts of his hair, and disconnecting their entwined hands.

 _That_ brought Minghao out of his weird, sweaty, anxious trance.

He tried to sound as sardonic as possible, “Yeah, maybe you could _not_ be a total idiot next time and help me out?”

“I know, I know. You’re really scary when you’re angry, so I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.” His friend tried to promise, but the way his lips curved with glee said otherwise.

“You really are the _worst_ ,” Minghao snapped.

“I’ll admit it, you might be right- but just this once. Anyway, shall we move on? There’s speech critiques to be done.”

Mingyu winked, and Minghao stuck his tongue out.

“I guess. I only have about an hour before practice, though.” He swallowed thickly, ready for this study session (maybe he should say date? Wait- no, not that) to be over.  
  
“That’s fine! We have more than enough time. And if you finish your drink before then, I can get you another- since I’m _such_ a good boyfriend.”  

The dancer pursed his lips, “Don’t bother.”

* * *

  
Minghao was folded over on himself, hands resting on bent knees as he heaved out the climbing exhaustion in his body. His heartrate was unusually fast paced, and he distantly blamed it on that second coffee.

_Why do I keep giving in? Screw you, Kim Mingyu._

Beads of sweat rolled down his temples, and he stood up a little too quickly, vision dotting with dizziness. His hand met forehead to swipe the moisture off, eyes closed as he waited out the sudden woozy spell.

“Hey, you doin’ alright there, bud?” Came a voice from somewhere near his elbow. It sounded far away, like he was stuck in a bubble, and the sound was a foreign object trying to intrude. Minghao sucked in a breath, held it ( _counted 1, 2, 3_ ) and let go.

“Yeah, no, I’m alright.”

“Okay, you sure?” He then realized this mysterious voice belonged to Soonyoung, who was looking up curiously up at him. “‘Cuz I’m gonna make you guys do one more runthrough. If you need to get water, you can…” he trailed off. He wanted Minghao to say yes.

“Uh,” the sophomore ran a hand through his tousled hair. “No. I’m fine. Promise.”

Dullness of uncertainty reflected in Soonyoung’s eyes, lingering there too long for comfort.

_Come on, man. You’re convinced I’m dating Mingyu- just buy this too._

“Alright,” he agreed, still hesitant but unwilling to put up a fight. “We’ll stop right after this one, I swear. We’re almost overtime, anyway. Now get HYPE! Let’s DO this!” He clapped loudly, so much that it almost hurt to hear, once again filled with energy. He bounded away, and Minghao giggled fondly- but it was soft and wheezy under his breath.

The rest of the group responded in a chorus of similar whoops and hollers- shoes scuffing against the polished wood as they got in position. Well, all but one: Junhui. The man shot a look of unabashed worry at his younger cousin, brow furrowed.

Minghao didn’t catch his eye in return, but he was certainly aware of the attention. Acknowledging him would just make Jun worry more, and he didn’t want to be the cause of that.

Now the real reason for his fatigue (and embarrassing lack of stamina) was _not_ , in fact, the caramel macchiato. He could blame it on the sweet treat all he wanted, but it was really his own fault.

Over the past few days, Minghao had gotten barely 10 hours of sleep. That- combined with the fact that basically everything the school offered to eat was _shit-_ made for a very unsteady lifestyle. He drank water, sure, but being hydrated didn’t solve all health related issues (no matter how much he wished it did).

Add on hours of strenuous dance practice, plus a near-panic attack due to public speaking, and Minghao had himself a pretty nasty combination.

“Everybody ready?”

Soonyoung was by the stereo, ready to press play on the music and run into position. Minghao found his spot amongst the clump of other dancers, inhaling deeply. He lifted his head, staring down himself in the mirror.

_Last time today. You can do this._

“And 5, 6, 7, 8!”

The beat started up, and a last pump of adrenaline burnt through Minghao’s veins. They had practiced this same routine so many times that it was a familiarity, and muscle memory took over. A pause when the soundtrack reached a climax- and the quickening of movement when the count went into double time. He made sure to hit each point of choreography with the sharpest execution he could muster. Miraculously, he danced through the entire thing with only a few, minor mistakes- but the rest wasn’t nearly as sloppy as he expected it to be. As the music faded out, Soonyoung clapped his hands again, grinning wide- and gave everyone the “okay” to leave.

Dancing had always been release for Minghao: a way to take his mind off things. However for now, he supposed that the creeping soreness in his body would be his best distraction, since the only thing he could focus on was how _tired_ he was.

He waited for his pulse to return to normal, breathing deeply through the mounting exhaustion. Hopefully when he got home, he could-

“Minghao!” Soonyoung called out, face bright and voice chipper. It was a miracle he could be like that despite just finishing a strenuous routine. “Can I talk to you about something real quick?”

Knowing it would take a little bit, Minghao looked up to where Jun was standing. The two always waited for each other after practice, but this time the younger nodded him off, shooting a glance that said, _‘don’t worry, you go. I’ll catch up.’_

He turned to Soonyoung and groaned, “ _Please_ tell me this isn’t about Mingyu. Actually, you know what, let me stop you right now- he asked me out Monday night after our study session. He was being really nervous and weird and it was a random time to do it but it was kind of sweet and I said yes, so we’re dating.” The friendly expression on the other’s face morphed into a mischievous smile, eyes narrowed as Minghao rambled on. He decided to ignore not only Soonyoung’s look, but the fact that it was still hard for him to say “dating” and call Mingyu “sweet”.

“That’s cute, but I don’t want to talk about Mingyu,” he snickered, “except _you_ obviously do.”

“Oh, um. Well,” Minghao tripped on his words. “That’s good. I’m tired of talking about him, you fraternity brothers are so annoying…”

Soonyoung raised his brows, as if in disbelief, and Minghao wanted to _die._ The sooner he passed out- from fatigue or embarrassment or whatever, it didn’t matter- the better.  

The older dancer stretched his arms back, letting out a little huff. “Anyway, we’re not _that_ bad. You’ll change your mind soon enough, I’m sure of it! Can’t really hate us since your boyfriend is almost officially a member, too.” The way he stressed the word “boyfriend” made Minghao wish that he hadn’t hung back.

Where was Jun? And could he come save him, like, _now_?

“Yeah, well, we’ll see. Uh… what was it you wanted to ask me?”

“Oh! It’s actually about the upcoming showcase. You don’t have to say yes- but keep in mind that this would be really great, so if you _don’t_ say yes it would be tragic.” He paused, “You got a solo! I’m talkin’ a whole solo routine! I was given a spot for my choreography final, but I can’t be the performer, and since you’ve been working so hard lately and stuff, I thought this was perfect. You could even b-boy. Whaddya say?”

The showcase, which only happened once a year, was a great chance for dance majors to exhibit their talent. But there were never enough opportunities for underclassmen, (seniority and all) so as a sophomore, Minghao hadn’t expected to get a (tentative) chance until junior year.

But, Soonyoung was offering him one now _._

“Wait… Excuse me? Are you serious?” His heart pulsed about six beats faster.  
  
“Minghao, please, that’s not an answer. I’m gonna need a ‘yes’ or ‘no’.” Soonyoung giggled, poking his friend teasingly in the side. 

This was a golden opportunity to show off the talents he had _slaved_ over for the past semester, and since there was no guarantee of getting a slot next year, he would be foolish to turn it down. His heart skipped again.  

Without another thought, he responded a firm, “Yes,” unable to stop a smile from splitting his face.

“AMAZING!” The other hollered, so eager that Minghao barely got his one-word answer in. Soonyoung captured his hands, bouncing up and down, “I’m so glad you said yes! This is going to be _really_ cool. Trust me!” His enthusiasm was dangerously infectious, the air buzzed with electricity, and Minghao couldn’t stop a laugh from bubbling up within him.

“One more thing! You and I are gonna have to spend a lot of time together for extra practice. You okay with that?” the boy asked, and despite the ever-present grin on his face, he seemed more serious in that moment.

Minghao swallowed.

“Yeah. Yeah, of course. It’s not like I do anything else.” He joked back, and Soonyoung seemed satisfied with that answer. The hesitance in his face was gone in a blink, features lighting back up.

“Awesome, glad to hear it! Because I’m pretty sure Mingyu would kill me if I overworked you or anything. I couldn’t live with it either...” he said wistfully, head shaking. “Anyway. Great work today! I’ll text you later about planning, okay, Minghao?”

With that Soonyoung departed, casting one last friendly wave over his shoulder.

Minghao gave a little gesture back, waiting for the door to close before he let out an adrenalized whoop of victory.

_Oh my god oh my god, oh my GOD!_

Mid-celebration, as he began a triumphant lap around the empty studio, the door swung back open. Minghao froze to his spot, nearly stumbling on his own feet, cautiously looking over. Standing there with a ridiculously amused smirk on his face was Junhui.

“Why are _you_ so excited, Hao Hao?” He teased, leaned up against the doorframe like some stylish model. Pfft. Minghao attempted to collect himself, ignoring the way his ears grew hot with embarrassment.

He scoffed, “No reason.” In trying to be all cool, his bangs fell in front of his eyes, and he had to shake his head to get them out of the way. Junhui dissolved into laughter, but something about it sounded sweet and warm, and he made his way across the room.

“Just kidding, I pretty much know what this is about. Soonyoung mentioned he was going to ask for your help earlier... I take it you said yes?”

Minghao lifted his shoulders in a shrug, as if the answer wasn’t obvious enough.

“Woo! My baby cousin is gonna be a star!” Junhui all but _yelled,_ so loud that his voice echoed off the walls. Flinging his arms wide open, he engulfed the other in a generous hug, ignoring any protests. He rocked them back and forth together, and Minghao wanted _so_ badly to push the clingy man off- but he didn’t. Believe it or not, he noticed himself melting into the embrace, secretly relishing in how secure and encouraging and positive it felt. Junhui gave a last, tight squeeze before stepping back.

“It’s just the showcase, it’s not _that_ big of a deal. It’s cool, but…” Before he could finish, the Junhui’s head was shaking left to right.

“Nope, not gonna- no. I don’t want to listen to you talk yourself down. Just let me be proud of you.” He cajoled, smile never leaving his face. Minghao gave in with a matching grin, trying to appreciate the shower of praise for once.

“Fine.”

“Good,” Junhui ruffled his hair, and Minghao moved to blindly swat him away, missing completely. There was a moment of attempted assault (teasing of course), but to no avail, because Jun was one slippery guy. Parting, the cousins stared each other down in a standstill.

“Hey,” Junhui spoke up after a few seconds, voice tempered to a gentle softness. “Do you think you can handle all of this, realistically speaking? Not to say I don’t _think_ you can, but I want to make sure.” He stood there, gaze blatantly searching Minghao.

He rolled his eyes back.

“I’m not a kid. I can take care of myself,” he answered tartly. But to Minghao’s dismay, he didn’t sound so convincing. Even though he was- honestly. He caught his lip between his teeth and chewed.

“If you say so.” Came the reply, and for a moment Minghao thought he heard wrong because there was _no_ way Junhui would agree so quickly without any rebuttal. Looking up, he saw that the other’s expression had mellowed, regarding him evenly.

Minghao hesitated before speaking, “Okay. Um, we should probably go, then. The studio is closing soon...” he thrust his thumb in the direction of the door.

“Yep.” Junhui nodded, a smile returning to his features, but it didn’t reach his eyes and Minghao forced himself not to linger on that.

Both students filed out of the room, locking the door behind them. Since they were the last class of the night, the hallway was already dark, and they had to use their memory and the faint glow of moonlight to find the way out.

Once they reached the exit and pushed through, it got much easier to see. Streetlights illuminated the pavement in a faint orange, the headlights of an occasional passing car breaking the hue with bright white. Minghao liked this time of night. It felt like the city was breathing on its own, without the people and the bustle, just lights and dark silhouettes of tall buildings.

The air felt cold, and he could see his breath again.

“How’s Mingyu?” Junhui piped up from beside him, suddenly, breaking the silence. He looked over to his younger cousin, face plain, so he was genuinely asking the question- but part of Minghao wished he could act like he hadn’t heard.

“Um, fine as always.” He shot back, perhaps too quickly, eliciting a snort from the other dancer. Minghao ignored him and focused on his own feet, careful not to step in the potholes littering the sidewalk. He took a particularly large stride.

“That’s so cute, you’re still shy about it. You don’t have to hold back though, I want to listen.” Junhui shrugged, and something stung Minghao, because he knew no matter what he said he’d be lying.

It was not a good feeling.

“No, that’s not it. I just…” he paused, “think it’s unnecessary. We’re dating, there’s not much more to say. You know Mingyu anyway, you can ask him yourself. You seem him everyday, right?” While he realized he was being unfairly harsh, he was also too annoyed to care. Minghao turned the corner towards the light first, bumping into Junhui.

“Okay, sorry I asked. I don’t know... I guess I expected you to be more excited? It’s weird to explain.” He struggled, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Minghao looked over, unable to catch his gaze. He swallowed.

“What do you mean?”

Junhui opened his mouth to speak, but it hung that way, as if he couldn’t get the words out. Breath curled like steam between his lips in a drawn-out sigh.

“Well, you’ve both liked each other for so long. Maybe you not as much, I wouldn’t know because you never told me- but I get it. I’ll try not to take it too personally.” he joked, but the stuttering waver in his voice betrayed him. “I think I expected you to be a little happier about it, maybe? It’s just that Seungkwan said he saw you both at work, but you guys were just bickering. It’s kind of funny. I know you and Mingyu have this weird dynamic, but it’s okay to _act_ like you care about him, you know?”

Minghao couldn’t even respond. Instead, he decided to focus on the stars overhead, but the city he lived in was polluted and the earth was dying, so he could only see the moon.

It made him uncomfortable to keep this up, to say the least. Maybe it was because he was so concerned about making a mistake that it drove him to be sensitive about the topic, or maybe it was the fact that for the past couple of days his emotions had been acting wildly out of line- and _that_ annoyed him.

At times like this, he would normally (after a lot of convincing) confide in Mingyu. They were best  friends and always leaned on each other. But this situation was a little different.

“Well that’s...” he started, mouth moving before his brain caught up. “We were best friends for, like, two years. We’re just comfortable with each other.” Minghao desperately hoped his tone was steady; the beating of his heart sure wasn’t.

If Junhui doubted this, he didn’t mention it, turning away with a thoughtful hum. The two walked in silence until they reached the dorms, leaving Minghao consumed by growing guilt. It gnawed at his stomach, leaving him sore, and he knew making up an excuse was useless. He had lied to his cousin and had to _keep_ lying to him- there was no way around that, even if it was for a “good cause”.

This was turning out to be much more… exhausting than expected.

 _Mingyu owes me another caramel macchiato._  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh.... it's been a while, hasn't it? :') college and other things have kept me extremely busy, so i apologize. that's why this chap is like 5,300 words!! you deserve it! 
> 
> poor hao is confused as shit
> 
> hope you enjoyed this chapter!! it was a bit challenging but i love it and cant wait to continue the plot. and i love feedback and what not, and new friends, so comment or drop me a line on twitter @fairy_hao ♡♡♡♡♡
> 
> sidenote: i love seeing svt have such a good time in LA. gyuhao's friendship is real and thriving and i love knowing that they have each other. so overwhelmed.


	4. when i grow up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have you ever heard 'Juju on that Beat'?

Minghao awoke the following morning with an awful headache (as opposed to a “good” headache- if those even existed). There was no real reason for the pounding, which just made him more annoyed, and he nestled further into his pillow as his alarm began to trill. Each ring reverberated through his skull and he wanted to get up and  _ chuck  _ his phone across the room, but that would probably break it, and there was no way he was paying for a new one.

_ What day is it that my alarm is going off this early? I hate college. I’m dropping out,  _ he mumbled internally, the threat feeling very real (even though it was a lie). 

But his alarm hadn’t stopped going for about 3 minutes now. Usually he would wait for it to give up and peter out, but his head was  _ throbbing _ . So getting up was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

Sluggishly, Minghao rolled out of bed- tossing his legs off the mattress so his feet landed softly on the ground. He managed to lean down and grab his phone without falling over, so that was a good thing, but the not so good thing was the text notification on his screen.

 

 **mingyu!!** **•ㅅ•** (9:00 am)

hao!! u better go to class, im presenting today >//<

 

_ Oh shit.  _

It was Thursday. Meaning he and his… “boyfriend” had class. Hastily, he typed out a response:

 

**minghao** (9:06 am)

almost forgot. i’ll go, but only because i ran out of skips

**minghao** (9:06 am)   
aka: not going because you need me to

  
  


**mingyu!!** **•ㅅ•** (9:07 am)

literally wat did i do to make u such a jerk to me

  
  


**minghao** (9:07 am)

you made me be your fake boyfriend. screw you kim mingyu

  
  


**mingyu!! •ㅅ•** (9:08 am)

babe i can change

 

Minghao threw his phone onto his bed, and resisted the urge to gag aloud. He had been under the belief (because Mingyu  _ said  _ so) that they would only keep up the act when in public, or in proximity of fraternity members. But if the emoticon-filled texts in his inbox were anything to go by, expectations did not equal reality.

Minghao was in a 24/7 live show and wanted his contract to end. Like, now.

He got dressed quickly and threw his bag together for class, ignoring the nagging voices at the back of his mind. 

The past two days of “dating” Mingyu had been bombarded with weird feelings and awkward moments and strange lies, so Minghao avoided paying attention to his thoughts. If he dwelled on them too long, it added _another_ stress that he didn’t need- or want. 

So he gulped everything down.

Hoping it would help to distract him, or at least ease his anxiety, Minghao grabbed his earbuds and drowned everything out with Avril Lavigne. He knew he looked beyond ridiculous, footsteps adjusted to the rhythm and mouthing the words, but  _ Sk8er Boy  _ was worth it.

In what he would consider record time, Minghao rode the elevator down and reached the lobby floor. There was one upside to running late- everything was empty because the other students already left. He walked a little faster, turning the corner towards security.

Unlike how any normal day would go, Mingyu was not there waiting for him near the desk- which twisted something in Minghao’s face and he ignored the fact that it did.

Minghao pushed open the doors with what was (probably) too much force, welcoming a gust of brumal wind against his face. Outside, the sun was bright but the air was cold and stagnant- typical of a wintery day. He pulled his scarf tighter around his neck, nestling his chin down into the soft fabric. 

He managed to get to the building only a little late to class, and was elated to find that the speeches hadn’t started yet. He exhaled a breath of relief and scurried past the professor, dipping his head in an apologetic nod. 

“Look who decided to show up,” Mingyu leaned over and whispered, words so sour that Minghao tasted it on his tongue. 

Trying to keep his voice down, Minghao retaliated, “At least I made it. Don’t be dramatic.” 

“You better clap after my speech.”

“Only if it’s good.” 

Minghao shot a bitter glare at Mingyu, who sent the same one back.

But this was just a familiar, harmless routine of teasing- and Mingyu reached over to playfully slap Minghao on his arm- the two breaking down into giggles. Then the professor spoke up, announcing they’d be deciding order by volunteering.

Mingyu offered to go first, because what  _ else  _ did anyone expect. 

The assignment was to tell a story, (Minghao chose to talk about his first day at college) and he used up the whole one minute time limit. Even though it was just an introductory project, and none of the other students put a substantial effort into it, Mingyu obviously did. It was enrapturing- the way he told a story- with animated hand movements and an expression that simply glittered.

Although Minghao would never say it out loud, he was  _ really _ impressed. Mingyu wasn’t an actor for no reason. He took to the front of the classroom with ease, never faltering or stuttering. Minghao almost (keyword: almost) envied how natural he was. At the same time, he felt a spark of undeniable pride with it.

Like a, there-goes-my-best-friend _ - _ type pride.

It wasn’t until an hour and a half later, when class had ended and they were walking side by side down the frozen pavement, that Minghao said something.

Keeping a small smile, he cleared his throat, “I feel like you practiced that too many times.” His expression changed to a smirk. “ _ Try-hard. _ ”

“Hey!” Mingyu couldn’t keep the whine out of his voice, as he obviously expected to be complemented instead of teased. He tried to shove the other with his elbow, but Minghao dodged, and the protest on Mingyu’s face was pitiful. 

“What? I thought I was being nice.” Minghao batted his lashes, but the giggle brimming on his lips betrayed him. He gently nudged their shoulders together, looking up at Mingyu.

Similar to earlier in the morning, the sky was crisp and blue, but the wind was harsh- and beat patterns of red against his skin. Minghao snuggled deeper into his scarf again, glad he remembered to throw it on.

It felt normal to be like this- how they were felt natural. But that made the grumbling at the back of his mind return, because they were friends and  _ things have always been like this. There’s no reason to be feeling relieved right now. _

“I’m surprised. Did you just admit to being nice to me?” Mingyu gasped, bringing his hand to cover his mouth so fakely that they both dissolved into laughter. Then, the same hand slipped into Minghao’s as Mingyu pulled their bodies closer together. 

Minghao’s heart leapt, and he all too quickly remembered  _ things _ .

_ Aha, yes, how could I forget. I feel okay now, because up  _ until  _ now, I’ve pretended to be in love with my best friend. And I’ve been lying to everyone around me. _

Without thinking, he tried to slip his own hand out of Mingyu’s, but the hold on his fingers tightened in protest. He had no choice but to leave them connected together, and Minghao pretended to ignore the immediate crease of concern on Mingyu’s face. 

_ Don’t ask, don’t ask, don’t ask... _

“What’s up?” His voice was soft and gentle, sounding like someone coaxing a wild animal. Despite how blatant Mingyu was being, Minghao felt his chest hollow. He was idiotic to believe that his slip would go unnoticed. 

Also- he was tired of Mingyu’s strange, psychic ability to  _ know _ whatever he was thinking or doing. Like, who in the hell gave Kim Mingyu the right to do that?

“Why are we holding hands? Was there a brother or someone you know?” Minghao almost snapped. He wished he didn’t have this reaction. _Why_ was it that every single time Mingyu flirted with him, or showed affection like any normal boyfriend would, his brain short circuited?

It wasn’t like he had suddenly developed feelings. No, the only thing that changed was the label they placed on their friendship. There was no reason for Minghao to be this way; with his emotions changing every hour over the smallest things. 

Just then, his friend gave their intertwined hands a squeeze. And Minghao had an idea.

A great idea, actually. Maybe more of a realization? 

Every single time that Minghao’s stomach had flipped over the past span of days, or he questioned his entire existence, it had been because Mingyu did something stupid. Like, be extra flirtatious- or weave their fingers intimately together. 

And that had never been a factor in their friendship before. 

It wasn’t present in any of Minghao’s past relationships either- he enjoyed hookups rather than commitment, and so even _faking_ commitment left butterflies in his stomach. Combined with the pressure of pulling off the relationship, and knowing its success meant a lot to Mingyu, he was left in knots. His resolve was wearing thin.

But take away the label and the physical contact, and all of his issues would be solved. Right? He wouldn’t be blushing like a schoolgirl or feeling static on his skin every time they interacted.

That _ had _ to be it. Everything was in his head.

“I- um, no? I just thought we should play it safe. Ah… Is that not…?” Mingyu stuttered, and it pulled Minghao back to the present. He grinned wide and readjusted how their hands curved together.  
  
“No, it’s fine. I’m just teasing you, Mingyu, in case that wasn’t clear.” Minghao jeered back, using his free hand to poke Mingyu playfully in the cheek. The twist of irritation on the taller’s face was immediate, his nose scrunched up in a way that made him look even more puppy-like. 

They continued on in comfortable silence for a little longer, until Mingyu spoke up.

“Ah, you have some time until your next class… right?” 

Caught off guard, Minghao processed it slowly, “Um, yeah? I mean… I should.” 

“Good. Want to walk around the park?” Mingyu asked, pulling their hands apart and shoving his own back in his pockets. Minghao reasoned he missed the warmth because of how cold his fingers were without it.  _ That _ was why he was disappointed they were no longer holding hands.

“Mingyu, it’s almost in the negatives. I’d rather go inside.” 

Mingyu smirked, “Who cares, Hao? I’ll be like your human heater. You can even have my jacket, and I’m like twice the size of you, so it’s super big and fluffy.” For emphasis, the boy shimmied his shoulders a bit, making the hood’s faux fur shake. 

“Okay, I am  _ not  _ wearing your coat. I know we’re supposed to be in love, but not that much. I draw the line at super cheesy.”

“Then we won’t cross it,” Mingyu agreed, and his dumbly perfect face is  _ glowed  _ with self fulfillment. Minghao got the sinking feeling that no matter what he said, the other would agree with it regardless until he won.

_ I hate this. _

“I hate you,” he breathed, exasperated, and Mingyu knew he won. He squealed a little in triumph, probably louder than intended, and shimmied his shoulders again. Some well-to-do couple in front of them turned around and shot them a glare, which just caused both boys to chuckle.

The park wasn’t far away from the street their campus was on, so it took only a few minutes to get there. “Park” was used to loosely refer to a hilly grassy expanse, some local artwork, and a little swingset. Runners liked to use the paths when the weather got warmer, and it served as a breath of green in an otherwise-grey city. 

In the winter especially, like now, it was kind of depressing instead. 

All of the plants- even the blades of grass- were totally dead and shriveled. Still, it was nice to get out and stretch your legs somewhere that  _ wasn’t  _ surrounded by skyscrapers. Crispness rested in the air, cold and sharp against his skin, and Minghao fiddled with his scarf once more.

The two chatted casually, occasionally throwing in a bad joke or teasing each other. With how laid back he was feeling today (especially after his epiphany), Minghao eagerly welcomed the calm. It lacked the pressure that being in public had- or places like Seungkwan’s cafe. 

And it would’ve stayed that way if it wasn’t for Mingyu yelping all of a sudden, startling Minghao.

" _Christ,_ Mingyu, what is it?” he sputtered, whipping his head around. To the left of them was a woman with two huge, fluffy golden retrievers, and Minghao sighed. They  _ were _ cute, but any time they saw a dog, Mingyu lost his shit without fail, which was a little endearing but also annoying. “Do you want to go say hi?” 

“S-say hello? No no, no I don’t think so. Hao, are you _ crazy _ ?” Mingyu hissed back, his voice low and teetering dangerously with panic. “How do you even know them?”

Unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice, he spat back, “They’re just dogs. They’re dogs, Mingyu.” Minghao blinked. “You’ve pet dogs before. You  _ have  _ a dog.”

“Dogs? What? No.” Mingyu shook his head childishly. By now, the tree trunk of a man was hiding behind Minghao (his much, much smaller friend). He harshly whispered, “I’m talking about  _ those _ guys. Oh god.”

Just down the pathway was a cluster of college age boys, talking amongst themselves. They looked friendly, but on further inspection, Minghao realized that  _ Soonyoung  _ was with them, and it clicked. 

“Are those… fraternity brothers?” He asked, his voice also dropping to a whisper (like they could hear them from this far away).   


“I can’t believe… help me. Oh my God, they aren’t just brothers- one of them is Seungcheol, the president.” Mingyu was still sheltered against Minghao’s back, trying not to be seen. Which was completely ineffective, and the shorter grabbed his friend so they were side by side. 

This was inevitable, so they might as well get it over with.

“It’s okay. They’re just people,” he soothed, and they resumed walking. He was aware of how tense Mingyu was, but his frown was softening, and Minghao considered that a good thing. Mingyu was a jittery person by nature, but to see him genuinely nervous was a little off putting. 

Minghao would have to put on a really good act.

Slowly, the two parties approached each other, and Minghao could see Soonyoung’s face light up when he recognized the couple. He bounded over to them without hesitation, and Minghao’s hand shot out to grab Mingyu’s. The hold seemed tighter than usual.

“Hey guys! It’s wild to see you here, are you… out on a walk together? Like a date?” Soonyoung giggled, grinning bright. He shot finger guns at the two, who both returned the gesture with tentative smiles.

“Yeah. I don’t have class until later, and it’s  _ so  _ nice out.” Minghao quickly jumped to answer, figuring Mingyu wouldn’t be able to. He gave a short squeeze of reassurance where their fingers connected. 

“Ah,” spoke up one of the strangers, “that’s adorable. Young love.” The way his eyes wavered between the “boyfriends”, not exactly  _ distrusting _ but rather analytical, was unsettling. Minghao shifted on his feet, now understanding why they scared Mingyu so bad.

“Oh, um, I can introduce you guys. Minghao, this is Seungcheol, Jisoo, and Jeonghan. A-and you already know Soonyoung.”  _ Ah, they’re the seniors.  _

Each of the brothers nodded to Minghao as they were introduced, and despite how his head was spinning, he tried his best to memorize them. So it was  _ Jeonghan _ that had been evaluating them before.

“Minghao, my man! I’m happy we finally ran into each other.” Seungcheol was the first to step forwards, his smile gummy and bright. “I’m the president of Nu Delta, in case Mingyu didn’t tell you.” Even though he put out an overwhelmingly warm greeting, his presence was undeniably intimidating.

Jisoo was the last to talk, his voice startlingly soft, “Nice to meet you.”

Minghao decided he liked Jisoo the most.

Just then, Mingyu took the opportunity to break their clasped hold, snaking his hand up and around Minghao’s  _ waist.  _ Minghao jolted, suddenly convinced he was on the verge of throwing up. 

How funny would that be? Imagine meeting your fake boyfriend’s fraternity president, the _one_ person you really want to impress, and throwing up on his shoes. It could only work out well.

When Mingyu tightened his grip, all hope was lost. Because Minghao squeaked. He  _ squeaked. _

“Mingy- ah! You  _ know  _ I’m ticklish, wha-”  
  
“What? You’re cute,” The taller snickered in response, hold remaining strong even after Minghao tried to jump away. Mingyu was grinning, dog-like and toothy, down at the other- who was more than ready to kick him.

“Yeah, okay. Tell me how cute you think I am after I break up with you- how about that?” Minghao threatened sourly. But he still didn’t try to move the hand secured on his waist.

“Come on Hao, you wouldn’t.”

“Oh I  _ would. _ ” 

“Well! Now I know why Seungkwan said you two seemed more like a married couple than a newly dating one,” Jeonghan piped up, all airy and teasing. Minghao felt a flush creep up his neck and stain his cheeks, but this time he couldn’t stop it.

Now snapped out of their bickering trance, Minghao’s eyes darted down to his feet, away from his “boyfriend”. However, he did notice that Mingyu was blushing just as brightly, and  _ wow  _ what a sight. They looked like two embarassed middle schoolers. 

Jisoo picked up on his embarrassment and sent him an encouraging smile, as if to apologize for his friends’ behavior.

Seungcheol, on the opposite end, almost looked upset. His brow was furrowed deeply, eyes squint at Minghao.  _ Did I do something wrong? Why is he…?  _ Having Seungcheol think lowly of him was the last thing Minghao wanted. He tried to brush it off by leaning into Mingyu’s side, seeking the warmth and stability there. It was the same reason he had looked to Mingyu while giving his speech- he could count on him when he was nervous.

For some reason, thinking about it that way only made Minghao blush more.

“Yeah, if you two kill each other before the mixer, wouldn’t that be bad for the frat?” Soonyoung joked, cheeks squishing with a beaming smile. Part of Minghao was grateful for him because he managed to lighten the mood. But really, he just hoped it would lead the conversation away from him and Mingyu.

“Yes, I definitely think it would,” Jisoo said, nodding extra firmly. Everyone broke into laughter at him, but amidst it, Minghao noticed that Seungcheol was still staring him down.

In the pause of silence, he burst out, “Minghao, you kind of look familiar. You’re a sophomore though, right?” All heads turned to the dark haired man, whose eyes were still narrowed at Minghao in thought.

Oh, okay- so Seungcheol  _ wasn’t  _ mad at him. That much was good news, at least.

“Yeah, I am. I don’t think we’ve met, but I’ve definitely heard your name around,” Minghao tried, just as unclear himself. He straightened up, leaning off of Mingyu’s steady support at his side.

He hadn’t seen Seungcheol before... right?   


“Does he have a good reputation or a bad one?” Jeonghan taunted, making the other groan weakly in protest. Jisoo just smiled along the whole time, and the younger boy started to realize why they got along so well. 

Maybe Mingyu’s fraternity wasn’t so awful after all.    


“He is Junhui’s cousin- maybe that’s why?” Soonyoung offered helpfully, placing his hand on his chin in thought. “Hmm, but they look nothing alike. So scratch that.” Minghao just shrugged again, not able to confirm or deny. He had a weird feeling that he had seen Seungcheol before as well, but couldn’t place it. Maybe they had some stupid required course together?

Jisoo spoke up next, saving Minghao from the others’ failing detective act. “Ah, Minghao, you’re a Dance Arts major, right? Do you minor in anything?” 

“I have a minor in Photography, actually,” he answered quickly, immensely grateful to move on.

Or, at least he  _ thought _ they had.

“I know!” Seungcheol exclaimed  _ loudly,  _ snapping his fingers for emphasis. “You hooked up with my roommate last year! I remember because I was kicked out that night.”

_ Just let me live... _

The first thing Minghao noticed was how warm he became. Heat prickled up his neck and towards the tips of his ears, and he had the urge to rip off his scarf. Nope, Seungcheol was not mistaken. Minghao vividly remembered seeing him that morning after. 

The second thing he noticed was Mingyu’s reaction. More specifically, Mingyu’s hand tightening around his waist in a way that made him head swim. One glance at him was indication enough for Minghao- going by the blankness in his eyes and the firmness of his jaw, Mingyu was bothered.

Feeling like he was filled with cotton and air instead of flesh and blood, he swayed a little bit- an awkward mix of losing himself and wanting to inch away. In the process he stumbled, about to fall (as if this whole situation wasn’t bad enough already).

But Mingyu’s grip tightened on his waist to steady him- and sparks popped against Minghao’s skin. He held in a gasp that threatened to slip out.

“Oh really? How funny,” Jeonghan mused, but he sounded far away and unreachable and Minghao barely noticed how Soonyoung was staring at him incredulously. 

It was Mingyu’s turn, now.

“Um well… uhm... yeah?” He began, voice hitting tremors, and Minghao couldn’t tell if it was from laughter or awkwardness or  _ what. _ “I mean… we weren’t dating then so. I-I’m not upset, or anything- uh, he’s his own person, guys.” Mingyu’s grip on his waist weakened, and the air returned to his lungs in a rush. He immediately shifted a step away, feeling their contact disappear. 

It allowed his mind to race with things like  _ why the hell did that just happen? It’s not like he cares who I hook up with, he just said that and he’s always said that. Also- can I  _ please  _ learn some self control? I just promised myself to stop acting like a fool when we do relationship-y stuff. I’m about to- _

The endless rambling of his thoughts ceased when Soonyoung erupted into a fit of giggles, unable to reign it in. 

“Minghao.. Oh my…. Oh my God,” he managed between breathy laughs, “I just thought of the best joke. You’ve- you’ve heard _ Juju on That Beat _ , right?” 

“I ca-”

“ _ B-boy on that dick!”  _ Soonyoung blurted out, because he had virtually no self control, making everyone else (even Minghao, a little bit) burst into laughter. Only Soonyoung could say something that and turn it into an actual joke, and by the stupid grin on his face, he knew that, too. 

“Soonyoung, please,” Jisoo weakly reprimanded, but he was laughing, too. 

Seungcheol shrugged, facing Minghao. “I guess… I probably should’ve waited to say that? Didn’t mean to make things awkward.” The younger just shook his head, trying to ignore how the other cast an apologetic glance at Mingyu.

_ We’re not even dating… ha…  _

“Don’t sweat it,” Minghao quickly supplied. The president bought the acceptance right away, smiling silly and wide.

“Great- still really sorry, though. If it helped, I didn’t hear anything!”

“That…”

“Yep, nevermind, I just made it worse,” Seungcheol erupted into awkward laughter, and Jeonghan snickered behind his lifted hand. “Okay. Um, well with that, we’re going to head out. Have fun, guys! And nice seein- uh, meeting you- Minghao!” 

The man waved his goodbye as Jisoo pushed him away, hand firm on Seungcheol’s back. Jeonghan followed, giggling uncontrollably, and there was a chorus of “Goodbye!”s and “See you later”’s as the fraternity brothers walked away.

Minghao saw the little group laughing and pushing each other around, in a bout of teasing no doubt, but it managed to bring a smile to his face. 

He noticed, by the way Mingyu was angled, that the other caught his smile- but he didn’t comment on it. Which was nice, because after all, he was still pretending to be against the fraternity (he had teased Mingyu too much about joining one at a  _ liberal arts  _ college to approve now). 

Once they were safely out of earshot, Mingyu dropped his hand from where it was still resting at Minghao’s waist, and the couple continued walking. Since it was winter- and you could never trust the weather in the winter- clouds clustered in huddles of white in the sky, making the sun filter through like spun gold. As they made their way through the park, Minghao tried to enjoy the brief nature and focus on how his breath looked like smoke against the oddly flickering light.

“Um, Hao, the hookup that Seungcheol was talking about...” Mingyu said abruptly. His tongue pushed against his inner cheek like he had trouble saying the words, and Minghao looked away from his face. 

“Yep, that one.” 

“Is it…” he paused, voice sticking to itself, “Is- This is one I know about, right? You aren’t hiding anything from me?” Mingyu continued, chuckling lightly. Minghao knew he was trying to laugh it off and make things not awkward, instead of just letting them be awkward. 

There was a nervousness rising up inside of him, but he didn’t know why. They’d had this conversation many times before, it wasn’t anything new.

“Yeah, I’ve kept you filled in on all of them.” The boy gave a small shrug, because it was a dumb question, really. “You’re my best friend, why wouldn’t I? I’ve always told you.” A particularly cold breeze picked up at their feet, scattering the last remains of some dead, shredded leaves.

“Okay, I’m glad. I just like to know.” Mingyu blinked honestly, and it was something Minghao had heard before. He knew that the taller never judged him for who he fooled around with, since he always reassured Minghao of that. 

“Mingyu, not to be rude, but... Why do you care?” Minghao furrowed his brow, stopping to face Mingyu once again. He stopped walking, too, and now they were just staring at each other like a couple of confused idiots.

“Was he, um, was he,” he paused and Minghao let him have his time, “ _ that  _ guy...? Sorry, I don’t really want to…” Mingyu trailed off, and now it was his turn to look away and the first thing Minghao thought was:  _ Oh,  _ that’s  _ why. _

His hands, suddenly itching to do something,  _ anything,  _ fisted in on themselves. At least it wasn’t an issue of Mingyu being upset or distrusting at him hooking up with Seungcheol’s (former) roommate specifically, like Minghao had thought it might be.

But Mingyu was focusing on him like he was entirely fragile, like if he said the wrong thing Minghao would break.

He opened his mouth to respond, to say ‘No’- but the words didn’t come out. They were lodged at the back, and while Minghao wanted Mingyu to just  _ stop fretting  _ over him, he didn’t want to talk about it.

Maybe part of him was afraid to say it out loud, or ashamed- or he thought that, if he didn’t talk about it, it would just go away.  After all, there was a reason his last hookup was his  _ last _ hookup.

Regardless, he inhaled, trying to speak confidently.   


“No. N-no, that’s not… It wasn’t him.” Minghao’s voice got progressively softer as he spoke, until it sounded like melting snow. Okay, so he didn’t sound convincing at all, but at least it was the truth. Thank  _ God. _

“Good,” Mingyu responded, without much hesitation, “because I would’ve dropped out of this frat so fast. Minghao, I would’ve- oh my God, you don’t even know, if I ever meet that guy-” He stopped, the breathiness of his voice overtaking what he tried to say as he got more and more worked up. 

“I do,” Minghao cut him off, their eyes meeting again. He smiled, and though he knew it was small and thin and unimpressive (and probably unconvincing), Mingyu gave that toothy, crooked one back.

Belatedly, Minghao realized that he had been called by his full name- not his nickname. He looked to his friend, who was growing golden in the shifting light. Tricks of warm color flickered across his features, including his nose that was tinted red from the cold, and Minghao shivered.

At his name,  _ not  _ at Mingyu.

“Thank you,” Minghao said, voice coming out much quieter than intended, since he didn't know what else to say. 

“You don’t have to thank me for anything, Hao. You’re my best friend, I’m not going to…” he attempted to say, so sweetly that Minghao felt his heart clench. Mingyu just shook his head, unable to finish the sentence. He knew Minghao didn’t like talking about it, and he respected that.

Minghao was the first to start gigglng, and he didn’t know why he did, but he couldn’t stop the chiming noise. Mingyu joined in soon after, and it felt happy and good, so it wasn’t like the shorter boy really cared where it came from.

“Are you okay?” his friend managed to ask through the high-pitched laughter, and Minghao could only nod back.

Deep down, he was aware of how seriously  _ lucky  _ he was to have this boy.  

The weather grew even more sour over the course of the day, and when night came, snow fell softly outside Minghao’s window. He buried himself under the warmth of his comforter, head peeked out so he could scroll through his phone before going to sleep.

He liked the view he had from his dorm: random Nu Delta member living across from him included. From his bed he saw a clear portrait of the surrounding buildings: the neons and soft glows of the city blurred by falling snow. On a clear night, he could follow the outline of each individual brick, but all he could see tonight was rapid flakes of white.

His phone pinged.

Minghao’s nose pinched in confusion as he noticed a new message- one from an unknown number, no less. Slowly, he opened up his texting app and scanned it.

 

**unknown number** (1:25 am)

Xu Minghao! Is this your number?

 

_ What the… _

 

**minghao** (1:26 am)

yeah. who is this?

 

He swiped his thumb to close out of the app, not expecting a quick response, but suddenly his phone vibrated again. Minghao’s eyes widened, 

 

**unknown number** (1:26 am)   
Oh yeah, sorry about that!~ It’s your favorite pledge, Boo!! 

  
  


**minghao** (1:28 am)

what   
  


 

**boo??** (1:28 am)   
Seungkwan!!    
**seungkwan** (1:28 am)   
Mingyu gave me your number :) I hope that’s okay!! I just wanted to chat a bit.

 

_ Oh,  _ okay. So Seungkwan- aka surprise fraternity pledge from the cafe- was texting him. Yeah, no- that was no big deal at all. 

Minghao snuggled deeper under the protection of his covers, holding his breath as he sent a response.

 

**minghao** (1:30 am)   
yeah! my bad   
**minghao** (1:30 am)   
and sure, what is it?

 

**seungkwan** (1:31 am)   
WooOOooOOoO!    
**seungkwan** (1:31 am)   
We’re all meeting up tomorrow if you want to come! You’re invited, it’ll be fun!! 

  
  


**minghao** (1:31 am)

who’s we?   
  


  
**seungkwan** (1:32 am)   
Me, your boyfriend, Seokmin, and Hansol~~ We were gonna play board games.

 

Okay, yeah, that sounded like a  _ great  _ day. Just chilling with the people who you had to act fake in front of, for like, the whole day. 

Swallowing down the fresh ball of nerves that had lodged in his throat, Minghao felt his cheeks heating up, and opened up his messages with Mingyu.

  
  


**minghao** (1:35 am)

mingyu, if you don’t want to die young, then stay away from me tomorrow. i am going to KILL you.

  
  


**mingyu!!** **•ㅅ•** (1:56 am)

D:

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so soft?? wow. yikes. thank you all for your support, here's another long chapter- and we're kind of getting back to regular updates! (✿◠‿◠) im going into production week for something im working on next so if i slow again that's why.
> 
> also... can u feel the heat?? are u feeling it, mr. krabs? i hope the b-boy joke actually worked, and that you kind of understood the nature of the hookup that gyu/hao hinted at? yeah.
> 
> as always, i love love love feedback and read all of it! peep me @fairy_hao on twitter as well. thank you all so much!!!! ≧◡≦


	5. jam jam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minghao learns that MarioKart is both the maker and breaker of friendships.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my look what it is!! (ᅌᴗᅌ* ) pls enjoy, and check the notes at the end for a lil message from me~

It felt like not even an hour later that Minghao was awake (not fully, but awake) and at Soonyoung’s studio, getting ready for early practice. 

In reality, he had undergone a whole night’s sleep and a 10 minute Uber ride- which was nowhere near an hour. But Minghao figured that since his reality was already warped, ( _ thanks,  _ Kim Mingyu) his sense of time may as well be, too.

“Hey, Hao Hao. I think Jihoonie is gonna pick us up from practice today.” Junhui puffed his cheeks a bit, like he was thinking. “If that’s okay with you.” Minghao let out a weak laugh at him, the breath lost as he leaned down to stretch his hamstrings. 

“What is it with you and nicknames?”   
  
“Terms of endearment, you mean,” the other corrected, a pointed look sent Minghao’s way. The redhead waved at him dismissively, not in the mood to argue with Junhui  _ this  _ early in the morning. That took more energy than he had.

Instead, he settled for: “Who’s Jihoon?”

His cousin rolled his shoulders back languidly, eyes downcast at the floor instead of Minghao’s face. The glossy hardwood floor must’ve been very interesting to him, with how much he was staring at it- which meant two things: either there was a bug on the ground he was hiding something.

Both sounded terrifying.

“Who’s Jihoon?” Minghao repeated, this time with more steel to his voice. While his cousin didn’t flinch at it, Soonyoung did, the question having piqued his interest. Chubby cheeks creased with a somewhat devious smile, he skipped his way over. 

“Jihoon? He’s a member of our frat. Angry little guy who likes making music,” he so helpfully supplied, arms swinging in happy little circles. Right as the words came out of his mouth, Junhui smiled at Minghao in a way that could be called “apologetic”, but was more _accurately_ called “desperation”. 

_ Frat. Brother. Jihoon. _

Oh- Jihoon.

Yes, now it was all coming back to him. When he and Mingyu had gone on a “study date”  _ (“We can actually call it a study date now because it’s a real date!”)  _ to the cafe, Jihoon was one of the brothers that Mingyu had mentioned. And because Minghao was apparently dumb as a rock, he had forgotten that name until just now.

_ Great. _

It was like he was never free of this Mingyu, fraternity-filled purgatory. Even at dance practice, which was supposed to be a sanctuary for him to do what he loved without distraction, he couldn’t. Most of this anger he decided to direct at Mingyu, because he was the source of it- but in a way, Minghao could only blame himself. After all,  _ he  _ was the one that agreed to the stupid deal in the first place.

He could’ve said no.

But he didn’t. 

_ Why didn’t I, again? _

For now, he croaked out a, “Oh- uh, yeah. I don’t mind.” He earned a weird look from Junhui, because Junhui was a wizard and always knew when something was wrong. But, because he was a wizard with a heart, and didn’t want to pressure him any further, he just nodded and continued stretching. 

“Don’t worry dude, you’ll get along well,” Soonyoung continued, seemingly oblivious to the situation. If he could sense the weird tension, he didn’t comment on it- which Minghao was eternally grateful for. 

_ That  _ conversation behind them, it was time to begin morning practice. When the music picked up, crackling to life over the old sound system, something jolted within the redhead; like a spark that ignited in a flash and grew until it reached his fingertips, hot and persistent. 

It had been a few days since he learned the choreography itself, so these additional practices were for cleaning and sharpening. While the routine wasn’t particularly fast, it  _ was  _ very intricate (typical of Soonyoung- once he tried to fit 5 moves into two counts), and therefore hard to perfect.

Minghao lost track of the breaths he took as he danced, more focused on nailing the moves instead of pausing. With each runthrough, and correction or suggestion from Soonyoung, the sheen of sweat on his skin grew slicker. Exhaustion had taken over his muscles, to make matters worse.

There was one particular part in his solo- a break in the choreo for freestyling- that kept tripping Minghao up. No matter what combination he attempted, b-boying or otherwise, it all just felt  _ wrong.  _ Like he needed to push himself harder, or think up something more unique. At this rate, he would just blend in with the other showcase dancers- and the thought of that made him sour.

“Great job guys!”

It still didn’t feel right.   
  
Soonyoung unplugged his phone from the aux and strolled over, round and bright as ever despite the sweat flushing his skin. It made Minghao feel kind of guilty, in a way. Here his friend was, working his hardest on a project that meant a  _ lot  _ to him (and he was kind enough to include Minghao in), and Minghao was letting him down.   
  
“How’re you feeling? Any questions?” he prodded, arm slung around Minghao’s shoulders. From across the room, although he wasn’t looking, the boy could feel Junhui’s attention shift to them. 

He choked a little on his words, “Yeah. I mean- no, I got it. I, I’m good.” The fib probably would’ve been convincing if it weren’t for how he floundered while saying it. Even Soonyoung looked doubtful. 

_ Great job, Minghao! Maybe next time we lie, try  _ not  _ to sound like it’s a lie. _

But how could he tell him the truth? The showcase was coming up fast, leaving them no time to spare for error or confusion. Soonyoung had delivered a perfect package of choreography to him, and the moment of creative freedom that Minghao had was the part that felt wrong. 

Therefore- it was his fault, and he was going to deal with it.

Deep down, he knew that wasn’t the smartest method, and that the other two dancers would be glad to help him if he just  _ asked _ . But the words, “I need help” weren’t really in Minghao’s vocabulary. 

He had only ever asked Mingyu for help, which had turned out just _ great _ .

Soonyoung raised a brow skeptically, but instead of saying anything, he just lightly patted Minghao on the shoulder and walked away. 

“Well, if you do come up with anything, just text me. Besides work, I’m pretty much free for the rest of the day, so…” the older boy shrugged; a signal for Minghao to accept the offer. 

“Thanks, I will,” he lied- again. 

“Um, we should probably go…” Junhui piped up softly from the side, jutting his chin towards the door. Minghao nodded back numbly, not trusting himself to speak, and pushed down the mounting knot of nerves in his stomach. Dancing had only distracted him for so long, but then things just  _ had _ to come crashing back down.

From struggling with the routine to being constantly surrounded by frat brothers to dealing with Mingyu and school and emotions in general, Minghao was _exhausted_.

And, on top of everything, one of the brothers just so happened to be Minghao’s relative. His closest cousin, actually, with whom he shared anything and everything. 

Keeping the secret was difficult enough, but lying to Junhui in particular was starting to hurt. 

He sighed, and dutifully followed Junhui out of the heat-flushed studio. The next couple of minutes were spent in comforting silence as they retrieved their bags from the lockers and headed down the hallways, automatically following a path they had gone down many times before. Each practice room in the hallway was hushed in grey light- they had been the first to arrive, and the other classes hadn’t even started filing in yet.

Minghao cleared his throat, “So this Jihoon guy. Anything I should know about him?” 

The cousins reached the building’s exit and opened the door, welcoming a frigid push of air. Outside, the city had awoken: the skyline etched black against the rising teal of the sky. Soon the sun would be out, but for now, streetlights and windows scattered like glittering gems against the buildings, guiding rushing businessmen to their morning commute. 

“He’s cute,” Junhui answered, almost bashfully, “but don’t tell him that. Unless you want a black eye.” 

“That’s violent,” the younger scoffed. Junhui simply giggled back, and Minghao pulled his coat tighter around himself, shaking his head fondly. “Your frat really doesn’t want me to live, do they?”

“No, no they don’t. But it’s because they like you, so you know, they tease you.” Junhui kicked away an uprooted chunk of concrete, the shard skating across the ground and leaving a mark in its wake.

Junhui guided Minghao past their usual crosswalk to an unfamiliar side street, where a small car was parked with its hazards on. It was darker there, sheltered in shadows by buildings on either side, and Minghao had to protect his eyes from the blinking red lights.

His cousin wasted no time in throwing himself into the passenger seat, so the other boy followed suit and slid into the back. 

“Jihoon, right?” Minghao piped up, sure to keep his voice polite as he reached his hand out for the boy to shake. 

A familiar face and unmistakable shock of flossy pink hair looked back at him.

No  _ way _ .

Unable to hide his surprise, Minghao blurted, “You’re… in the room across from mine, aren’t you? Well- not across, but like, kind of-”   


“Yes,” Jihoon said simply, cutting off the sophomore. His voice was a lot deeper than expected, tinged with a certain roughness that deeply contrasted his appearance. Junhui’s advice to not call the elder “cute” rang in Minghao’s head, and he was starting to get an idea of why.

Smart call.

“Nice to meet you,” Minghao replied, retracting his hand. He quickly got the idea that Jihoon was not much of a conversationalist- unless you were close with him, like Junhui seemed to be.

Actually, now that he watched them- his cousin occasionally leaning over the dashboard to poke Jihoon’s cheeks and their faces tinged red from joking around- it seemed like they were  _ really  _ close.

A sly smile found its way on Minghao’s face, and he made an internal note to bug Junhui about it later.

One good thing that came of Jihoon’s quiet nature was that Minghao wasn’t expected to talk a lot. He was completely content to sit in the back and lazily eavesdrop, gaze cast out the window to observe the buildings as they blurred together.

Until-

“Hao Hao, you didn’t tell me that!” Minghao snapped to attention, owlishly blinking at Junhui- who had turned around in his seat to face him.

“Tell you what?” He mumbled, confused.

“About your board game date with Seungkwan and everyone. That’s really cool!” 

Holy shit.

Like…  _ Godly  _ shit. 

Minghao had totally, completely, and utterly forgotten about his “date with the devil” later (as he liked to call it). Between waking up at the crack of dawn, fretting over dance practice, and friendly general anxiety- the board game session had completely slipped his mind.

Being in this car was suddenly nauseating. 

Jihoon’s sharp gaze met his through the mirror, like some disappointed parent, as he murmured, ”Glad you remembered.”

 

* * *

 

 

**seungkwan** (10:03 am) 

My dorm is 1407 in Oxford! Just come up when you’re ready, we’re all here. :) 

 

Receiving and reading that text felt like, to Minghao, the moment when someone in  _ One Missed Call _ would get “the call” and realize that their life was over.

But instead of dying right then and there, like he very much wanted to, the boy traveled up to the top floor of Seungkwan’s dorm building. He cradled a box of cheap cookies from the grocery store in his arms, fingers pressed so hard into the plastic container that it dented.

It vaguely crossed his mind that Seungkwan had texted “when you’re ready”, and he wasn’t  _ technically  _ ready, so if he never showed up it shouldn’t be a problem.

The elevator doors slid open with a silent hiss.

Minghao swallowed hard.

_ You can do this _ , he cheered himself on internally, rolling the words over and over again in his mind like a mantra. This was just a hang out with some potential friends, with some fun board games and a healthy dose of junk food.

_ And your fake boyfriend, _ his mind helpfully supplied, to which Minghao replied,  _ Shut up, brain. _

After about a minute of shuffling through the hallway- knowing where room 1407 was but not wanting to get there- he finally reached the door. All he had to do was knock. Just knock, and then the door would be opened, and he could endure his date with the devil, and go home.

If hanging out with the pledges was anything like his one encounter with Seungcheol and the others, then Minghao was in for a real treat. It could be a different, though- in a bad  _ or  _ good way- but there was no way it could be worse than meeting the old roommate of a brief hookup with your “boyfriend”. 

So, Seungkwan and the others were safe for now.

With a sharp intake of breath, lungs stinging, Minghao rapped his knuckles against the door. There was the muffled sound of conversation, and then shuffling, as someone got up to let him in.

“What’s up, brother!” Seungkwan greeted, magically crumbling all of Minghao’s resolve in one second.

_ If all of them talk like this, we’re going to have a problem…  _ the boy fretted internally, shooting the other a civil smile. A mental image of Mingyu in pastel shorts, a button down, and a snapback while saying, “bro” cursed him. 

He stopped smiling.

Seungkwan, oblivious to it, instructed Minghao where to put his food down before bringing him to the suite’s living room. The building he lived in- Oxford- didn’t have normal double beds like Minghao’s dorm did. It was suite living, meaning there were several residents to a room, complete with a kitchenette and a common space. 

Before entering college, he and Mingyu had talked about sharing a suite before deciding not to, on account that they would, “see each other too much and start hating each other”. 

Which, now that he reflected on it, was kind of funny- because they were seeing an  _ awful  _ lot of each other anyway.

“I’ll introduce you to everyone! You already know Mingyu- I would hope-” Seungkwan tutted, “and then this is Seokmin, and this is Hansol. You don’t have to remember names yet or anything, but I hope you know mine.” The boy finished, settling down besides Hansol on the couch with a cheeky grin.

“Who’s Mingyu? He sounds like a real ass,” Minghao shot back fast, as if it was in his nature to be mean to Mingyu. 

He wandered over to an open spot by his friend, and Mingyu casually slung an arm over his shoulders. Strangely enough- but much to Minghao’s relief- there was no spark or jolt or heart-throbbing numbness when their skin touched. Instead, it was familiar and comfortable, and the redhead found himself leaning into Mingyu’s warm presence.

It just served to prove his earlier theory. He only got butterflies around Mingyu when they did something defined as couple-y, and Minghao was no stranger to casual contact.

No more butterflies. 

Because he wasn’t looking forward to more of that. (He really wasn’t,  _ okay? _ )

“Great to see you, too, babe,” Mingyu retorted, one of his stupid, stupid canines protruding past his lip when he smirked. 

Minghao was getting used to the pet names at this point, but never that  _ infuriatingly  _ attractive grin, and he didn’t know what bothered him more: how weak he was, or how strong Mingyu was. 

He’s spared from thinking about it more when Seungkwan claps his hands together, loudly gaining everyone's’ attention. 

“Alright gentleman, leave all feelings at the door- this is game night. We aren’t friends anymore, we’re out for blood. Got that, Minghao?” The blond singled out him in particular, to which Minghao nodded his head slowly. He shifted slightly away from Mingyu to sit up straight, the tile suddenly very uncomfortable to be on. Besides him, the taller boy stifled a giggle, and Minghao gave him a friendly warning slap on the shoulder.

“First round! We have Monopoly, Sorry!, Uno-” Seungkwan listed off the available games, stopping when Seokmin’s hand shot eagerly into the air. There was a particularly mischievous smile on his face that was both beautiful and terrifying- and it earned a  _ look  _ from Seungkwan. “Seokmin, no, we’re not-”

“I think you forgot Horse-Opoly,” the tanned boy started, pearly whites still flashing.

“I didn’t forget it. I left it out... on purpose.”

“What about Dog-Opoly?” Mingyu quickly added, oh-so unhelpfully, causing Seokmin to let out a deep and boisterous laugh. Seungkwan looked like he was ready to slice both of their throats-  _ and _ accept the consequences.

Apathetically, Minghao patted his friend’s shoulder, and sighed, “I don’t think so, but you’re welcome to go play it by yourself in the bathroom.” Seokmin’s laughter increased dramatically, so much that he fell off his bean bag and rolled to the floor. Even Hansol- silent up until now- let out a cackle, and slowly the room filled with a cacophony of different laughters.    
  
Mingyu pouted, like he always did, so familiar that Minghao couldn’t help but crack a smile. He had the sudden urge to mess with him- so he did. 

Minghao moved his hands to rest on the other’s puffed cheeks, squeezing them together so Mingyu let out a whistle of air- snorting in the process and causing both of them to melt into laughter as well.

“Even when you’re mean to him, you two are disgustingly cute. Ugh,” Seungkwan remarked, exasperated, from his couch-throne. It caught Minghao’s ear- and his attention- so much that he blushed like the middle schooler he was. 

_ I’ve got to get used to that. Like really.  _

As the little group came down from their giggle spell, Hansol piped up, “Why can’t we just play MarioKart?” The others- Minghao included- perked up at that, and looked to Seungkwan. He had assumed the role of ringleader for the night, so if he was up to it-

“Are you kidding me? Playing MarioKart on your first game night is like skipping holding hands and going straight to anal,” Seungkwan remarked. Mingyu spit out the fresh gulp of cola he had in his mouth, the liquid sputtering everywhere and leaving him choked for breath. Hansol seemed pretty unfazed for the most part, which made Minghao chuckle as he patted Mingyu half-heartedly on the back.

It surprised him how much fun he was having. His sides hurt from all the laughter, so much that his stomach was sore with pain- but he felt happy.

“What? I’m not wrong,” the younger boy continued, unwilling to give it up, “but it doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. Why not?” The implications of his sentence were forgotten when the rest of the boys jumped to their feet, faces childishly ecstatic. 

“I’M GONNA PICK RAINBOW ROAD!” Seokmin announced, voice deafening and causing Minghao to flinch. He, along with a recovering Mingyu, raced to grab the controllers and plug in the system with little delay. 

This night was  _ definitely  _ not going the way Minghao expected.

But that wasn’t a bad thing.

He quickly figured out that (having never played MarioKart before), Seungkwan’s statement wasn’t far from the truth. He heard a colorful array of language that he didn’t know even existed- from Seungkwan and Mingyu in particular- things that acquaintances didn’t usually say to each other. 

The dancer also discovered that blue shells were the spawn of Satan himself, and that fake item boxes were essentially a useless item unless you were targeting Seokmin (who fell for them every time). It was a lot to take in at once, and maybe a little overwhelming, but he wasn’t upset by it.

In the span of only a few games, they went from strangers to people who acted like friends that had known each other for years.

As the night when on, the room got increasingly darker; blinds open and lights shut off. The constantly changing, multicolored glow from the television that cast brightly painted shadows on everyone's faces. Bags of emptied junk food lay discarded on the ground around them- a sign of a good night- and Minghao finished off the cookies he brought as he waited for his last turn.

The other pledges- Mingyu excluded- were on their final lap, sitting in front of the screen and completely entranced. Minghao hung near the back, shoulder to shoulder with the auburn haired boy, oddly enjoying the way he could feel Mingyu wiggle a bit as he giggled.

Before he could turn away, the taller looked over, catching Minghao's fixed gaze. His eyes seemed to glitter a bit, like they were flecked with stardust, but it was really just the artificial light from the screen. Minghao blushed a bit under the intensity, unsure why, but still blushing.

"Are you having fun?" Mingyu asked, voice hushed. He bit his bottom lip a little, teeth worrying the flesh.

The redhead looked away, maybe a little sheepishly, because he felt stupid now. He was so opposed to this night and spent each moment leading up to it dreading how awful it would be. 

But now that he was here, and having  _ fun _ , he felt silly.

Minghao shrugged, trying to mask it, and let out a noncommittal, "Yeah, you could say that." Mingyu- the mind reader he was- saw right through it, of course, and wore a playful grin. He nudged his elbow into Minghao's side, not enough to hurt, before turning back to the game.

They had to be nearing the finish line, judging by the increased volume of Seokmin's screeches and Seungkwan's expletives. Well, Minghao could really just look over to check if it was almost over himself- but he was too busy thinking.

And staring at Mingyu.

But mostly thinking.

In that moment, his friend looked so happy. Ridiculously happy. Minghao had known him long enough to know the difference between genuine joy and fake joy- and this was not artificial by any means.  _ And from what? MarioKart? The popcorn Hansol brought? Me getting along with his pledge brothers? _

Ah, that was it.

Minghao inhaled and held the breath there in his nose, mulling it over in his mind.

Seeing Mingyu happy made him happy, because they were best friends- and wished the world for each other, when it came down to it. And the fraternity- fake dating included- meant a lot to Mingyu, and Minghao being reluctant or in angst because of it didn't change that. He was doing this because Mingyu had asked, and he owed Mingyu, and- yeah, because they cared a lot about each other.

He let out the breath in a sigh, sinking further down into his seat. Minghao knew he was trying his best already, but he supposed he could be a little more positive moving forward.

Well- he'd  _ try.  _ And that's what was important.

The boy looked back to where the trio was camping out on the floor, erupting in an explosion of noise as Hansol passed Seokmin in the last minute and claimed first. Before he could stop himself, Minghao found himself smiling.

_ Yeah, I can definitely try. _

 

* * *

  
Late, late that night- when the city was thick with darkness and Minghao couldn’t see any cars on the street below his dorm, he called Mingyu over to study.

Well- to study, to talk, to show him the dance he had been working on. Just your generic serving of best friend activities. 

Much like Junhui, Mingyu was always on his phone, and the guy was over almost right after Minghao sent the text. As per usual, he entered the room without any preamble or knocking, and settled himself right down on the spare bed. 

(Mingyu always complained that he should just get rid of the bed and buy a couch, or a TV or something, and Minghao always said it was too expensive- but he was really just too lazy to do anything.)    
  
Also, as per usual, he was dressed snugly in his pajamas. Yes, Kim Mingyu- heartthrob of their high school and prime real estate in college- had a matching pajama set. It was a downy white made from cotton, and hung loosely off his figure.

“Hey, Hao,” he greeted softly, pulling his long legs underneath him to sit on the bed. Usually, if they were cramming, Mingyu would bring his backpack and they’d get Red Bull and study late into the night. But this time he brought nothing, ready to work with what Minghao had. 

Minghao ran a hand through his hair, letting it rest there as he shot his friend a smile. He swore there was a pinky glow on Mingyu’s cheeks, but that also could’ve been the light from his rock lamp. 

He may never know.

“Hi, Gyu,” he responded, tone just as soft.

Mingyu propped his head up on his hand, and asked, “You had a good time tonight, right?” There was a slight bit of sleepiness to his voice, but his countenance was still sparkling and eager.

“I- yeah! No, yeah, I had a lot of fun.” Minghao stumbled on his words, and turned his attention back to his work. His papers turned pink from the lamplight, and Mingyu continued on behind him.

“I’m so glad. I knew you’d like them- I mean, I didn’t  _ know  _ but I knew. Seungkwan can be extra but he’s a great guy, nobody dislikes Seokmin, and Hansol is pretty cool. I mean,” he laughed, a little bit breathy, “they like you, too. I’m just really glad.” Minghao could hear the mattress rustle against the bedframe as Mingyu leaned back on the wall. 

Quietly, almost to himself, he said, “I’m glad, too.”

“Huh?”   
  
“Well…” Minghao paused, turning away from his work again to face Mingyu. Pen still in hand, he twirled it nervously between his fingers, focusing on how it flipped around. He wasn’t meeting Mingyu’s eyes, but he could feel his friend’s stare hot on his face. “I’m glad they like me. And that you, like, have them- you know? This is really gross to say, but you’re my best friend so I’m going to say it.”

Mingyu waited patiently for him to continue. Whenever Minghao tried to be sentimental, his thoughts became jumbled. So he had to think before speaking. 

“They’re good friends, and while I find most of the fraternity to be  _ awful, _ ” he joked, half-heartedly, “I’m glad that you’re with them. Like, uh- I just. I know they’ll take care of you.” Minghao finished, closing the great effort and resuming with his pen spinning.

“Aww!” Mingyu let out a high pitched whine, almost immediately, emotion thick in his voice, “Hao Hao! You really  _ do  _ care about me!” 

“Shut up! Of course I care about you, I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t!”

Because Mingyu really liked to see him suffer, he clapped his hands together in soft applause, grin blinding and annoying on his face. Minghao didn’t hold back a low, exasperated groan- chucking his pen at Mingyu, who yelped as he ducked down to dodge it. 

Studying resumed normally after that, the two occasionally holding conversation. Mingyu made sure to ask about his dance practices with Soonyoung, and how they were going, and Minghao made sure to ask about the pledge process and acting classes. They also discussed the weather- which seemed boring- but hurricanes were an exciting exception.

Then, Mingyu changed the topic.

“You know, you’re getting a whole lot better at this ‘fake boyfriend’ thing.”

“What, was I bad at it before?” Minghao shot back quickly, to which Mingyu laughed. Like he was simply amused at how fast he could burn his friend’s wick.  
  
“No! I mean… you’re just getting better. Like, more natural, I guess? I know I say it a lot, but thank you. This means a lot to me.” Mingyu continued, suddenly shy. He busied himself by picking at a loose thread on his pajama pants, and Minghao snorted 

“I know. Don’t mention it. Just, buy me coffee again or something.”

“Okay!” His over-eagerness was so transparent that it was embarrassing. 

Minghao tried not to dwell on how a rosey spark stirred inside of him at the compliment. He tried to excuse it as anything else: guilt over lying to people, confusion at how to do it, the unfamiliarity- the constant embarrassment.  

It would be _so_ easy if that was the truth.  

It just made  _ sense _ that all these flitting butterflies and nervous drops were from everything wrong with the situation- because there were  _ so  _ many things wrong with it. His thoughts had been a flurried storm of anxiety lately. 

But deep down, Minghao had a sinking suspicion that it was all just an attempt to convince himself.

After all, the truth was never that simple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *** pls read this tweet: https://twitter.com/fairy_hao/status/892072763195830272 ***
> 
> i hope you enjoyed that fluff! i know not a lot happened, but i figured it would be a good way to ease back into things. I AM SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT.
> 
> a few things b4 i continue:
> 
> follow me on twitter @fairy_hao ! ✿✿✿ i love talking to ppl.  
> also, pls comment!! i live off of ur comments & i wanna know what you guys are thinking.  
> WELL. 
> 
> This has been a long time coming! A few months actually, aha. Lemme explain...  
> So, I finished my first year of college in May. I went into production week for an awards show I was assisting, which took a lot of energy, and then i had work/trips/conventions and. just general laziness.  
> (i did manage to write a oneshot, 'make it right', in my spare time- so PLEASE go check that out)  
> but im really sorry!!!! i meant to write sooner, and i'll try my best to update.... im so so sorry about the wait...i have a lot of other ideas for fics as well, so i hope you stick with me. i love you guys!!! ≧◡≦
> 
> ((( also... guess who's going to diamond edge in chicago? AND HAS HITOUCH? )))


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